Mt. Rose OPC

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 24, verses 9 through 18. And this is God’s holy, inerrant, and inspired word. Exodus 24, nine through 18. Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet, as it were, a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness, and he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel. They beheld God and ate and drank. The Lord said to Moses, come up to me on the mountain and wait there that I may give you the tablets of stone with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction. So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them. Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day, he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. New Testament Reading Our New Testament reading is 2 Corinthians 3, verses 12 through 18. I made a mistake in the bulletin. I put chapter four, but it’s 2 Corinthians 3, verses 12 through 18. 2 Corinthians 3, 12 through 18. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, the same veil remains unlifted because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day, whenever Moses has read, a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. The Majesty of God’s Glory You can turn back to Exodus chapter 24 for our sermon text. There are some places in the world that you just have to see with your own eyes to appreciate how stunning, how beautiful they really are. Videos and pictures, no matter how lifelike they may be, they just can’t convey the majesty, the grandeur of a place like the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls or Mount McKinley. You have to see those places in person to get the full effect, to really understand just how wonderful they are. And if you’ve been able to visit one of those places in person, you know what a powerful impression it makes on you to stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon and to look over that amazing part of God’s creation. It’s not just to see a pretty scene or pleasant scenery, but it’s to see something that is truly full of glory, full of wonder. And if there is such amazing beauty and glory in these natural wonders, how much more glorious is the God who created them? And if beholding with our eyes something in creation can fill us with such a sense of awe and wonder, then what must it be like to behold the one who created those things, the creator? What must it be like to see him in all of his glory? Because God is infinite and unlike this creation and even the most stunning thing that we may behold in this creation, God, He is infinite in glory. He is infinite in beauty and in majesty. And for that reason, for you and me to somehow see God with our eyes, there would be no experience like it. There could be no great

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading this morning is Exodus chapter 24, verses one through eight. And this is God’s holy, his infallible, his inspired word. Exodus chapter 24, verses one through eight. Then he said to Moses, come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. Moses alone shall come near to the Lord, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him. Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, all the words that the Lord has spoken, we will do. And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and 12 pillars, according to the 12 tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the people of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do and we will be obedient. And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, behold, the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. New Testament Reading And now turn to Hebrews chapter nine, verses 11 through 22. This is God’s inspired commentary on the passage that we just read, at least part of this is. Hebrews 9, 11 through 22. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent, not made with hands, that is not of this creation, He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not enforced as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore, not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, this is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you. And in the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. The Purpose of Redemption: Worship Last Lord’s Day, as we looked at the passage before this in Exodus, we considered how the destination that the Lord had set for the people of Israel was the promised land, the land of Canaan. That was why the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt. It was in order to give to them, to bring them into this land that he had promised their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And so the destination was one reason why the Lord brought his people out of Egypt. But there was even a more basic, more fundamental reason why the Lord brought his people out of Egypt. And that more basic reason was that so his people w

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 23, verses 20 to 32. And this is God’s inerrant, his infallible, his inspired word. Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice. Do not rebel against him for he will not pardon your transgression for my name is in him. But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. You shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. None shall miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites and the Hittites from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little, I will drive them out from before you until you have increased and possess the land. And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates. For I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out from before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you. New Testament Reading And our New Testament reading is John chapter 14, verses one through seven. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself and where I am, you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my father also. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. The Importance of the Destination You have all heard the saying, it’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. And sometimes that is true. But that was probably not what the Israelites wanted to hear as they set out on their wilderness journey to the promised land. For the Israelites, it was all about the destination and not about the journey. It was about the destination that God had promised to bring them to. That is, the promised land. He would bring them through the wilderness into a land flowing with milk and honey. This was the promise that God made to Abraham, that his descendants would inherit this land. This was the promise that God made to Moses when the Lord appeared to him from the burning bush and told him that he would be the one who would lead his people out of Egypt and into the land of promise. And in this passage, the Lord makes this promise again as he speaks to Moses, who will relay these words to the people of Israel. And so for the Israelites, what made their journey meaningful, what made it a journey worth making was the destination. It was the promised land. That was their hope. That was the promise, the gift tha

Old Testament Reading Our Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 23, verses 10 through 19. Exodus 23, 10 through 19, and this is the holy word of our Lord. For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard and with your olive orchard. Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman and the alien may be refreshed. Pay attention to all that I’ve said to you and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips. Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib. For in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. You shall keep the feast of harvest, or the firstfruits, or of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the feast of ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God. You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leaven or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning. The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. New Testament Reading Let’s turn now to Romans chapter 12 for our New Testament reading. Romans 12 verses one and two. Romans 12, one and two. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. The Devotion of an Athlete If you watched any of the Winter Olympics that were on a few weeks ago, I’m sure that you couldn’t help but being impressed by the talents and the skills of the athletes that were competing in their various events. Those athletes, they are truly the best of the best. But maybe the most impressive thing about those athletes is what we don’t see, what isn’t broadcast, and that is the hours and hours and hours of training each day that they put in for years and years on end. If you’re going to be an Olympic athlete, if you’re going to be an athlete at that elite level, you must be extremely devoted to the training, the preparation that it takes to reach that level of success in any given sport. And that kind of devotion on the part of athletes to their sport is a picture in some ways of the sort of devotion that God calls you as a Christian to give or to devote yourself to God. You are to devote yourself to Him in service, in worship, in obedience, not just a few hours each day, not just a few days each week, but every day, all the time, you are to give yourself, to consecrate yourself to serving the Lord, to worshiping Him, seeking Him, loving Him. And so Christ calls you not just to devote part of your life to Him, but you are to consecrate the entirety of your life to your Savior and Lord. Consecration in the Old Testament Law This has always been the standard that God has set for his people. He has always demanded their wholehearted obedience, devotion, worship, their complete and unreserved consecration to Him. God wants all of us, not just part of us. In these verses that we read from Exodus chapter 23, they give us a picture of the way in which the Lord called His Old Testament people, the people of

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 22, verse 16, through chapter 23, verse nine. So let’s give our attention to God’s word. This is God’s inerrant, infallible, and holy word. If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride price for her and make her his wife. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride price for virgins. You shall not permit a sorceress to live. Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death. Whoever sacrifices to any God other than the Lord alone shall be devoted to destruction. You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him for you are sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry and my wrath will burn and I will kill you with the sword and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless. If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a money lender to him and you shall not exact interest from him. If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak and pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body, and what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. You shall not revile God nor curse a ruler of your people. You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me. You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. Seven days it shall be with its mother. On the eighth day, you shall give it to me. You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore, you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field. You shall throw it to the dogs. You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit siding with the many so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit. If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it. You shall rescue it with him. You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. Keep far from a false charge and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. New Testament Reading Our New Testament reading is 1 Peter, Chapter 1, 13 through 16, 1 Peter 1, 13 through 16. Therefore, preparing your minds for action, be sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Holiness Amidst Peer Pressure There is no kind of pressure like peer pressure. We all experience it and we’ve all succumbed to it. There’s something within us that really wants to be like everybody else, something within us that wants to do what everybody else is doing. We don’t want to stand out as odd or different or not with it. And when it comes to spiritual and moral concerns, this desire that we have within us to conform, to be like everyone else, to be like the world around us, this can lead us into all kinds of trouble. The Lord knew that the people of Israel were going to struggle w

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 22, verses one through 15. Exodus 22, one through 15. This is God’s word, his inspired, his infallible, his inerrant word. So let’s give our attention to the reading of the word of God. Exodus 22, one through 15. If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no blood guilt for him. But if the sun has risen on him, there shall be blood guilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the stolen beast is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double. If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best in his own field and in his own vineyard. If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution. If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man’s house, then if the thief is found, he shall pay double. If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to God to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor’s property. For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing of which one says, this is it, the case of both parties shall come before God. The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor. If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe and it dies or is injured or is driven away without anyone seeing it, an oath by the Lord shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor’s property. The owner shall accept the oath and he shall not make restitution. But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as evidence. He shall not make restitution for what has been torn. If a man borrows anything of his neighbor and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution. If the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution. If it was hired, it came for its hiring fee. New Testament Reading That is our passage this morning, but we will also hear from the New Testament. So you can keep your place there in Exodus and turn to Luke chapter 19, a very familiar passage from the Gospels of Zacchaeus, the wee little man who came to faith in Jesus. Luke 19, verses 1 through 10. Luke 19, verses 1 through 10. He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was. But on account of the crowd, he could not because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today. So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled. He has gone in to be the guest of a man who was a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold. And Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to this house since he also is a son of Abraham. For the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. A Personal Illustration of Theft and Consequence We all have things in our past that we are not too proud of. And as I was thinking of our passage that we’re

Old Testament Reading Our Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 21, verses 12 through 36. So Exodus 21, verses 12 to 36. And this is the infallible, the inspired, the inerrant word of God. Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar that he may die. Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death. Whoever steals a man and sells him and anyone found in possession of him shall be put to death. Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death. When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear. Only he shall pay for the loss of his time and shall have him thoroughly healed. When a man strikes a slave, male or female, with a rod, and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money. When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth. When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. If it gores a man’s son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master 30 shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his. When one man’s ox butts another’s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share. Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his. New Testament Reading You can keep your place there. That will be our sermon text this morning. Our New Testament reading is Matthew chapter five, verses 38 through 42. Matthew 5, 38 through 42. You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Understanding the Civil Law We are working our way through the book of Exodus, and last week we began a section in Exodus in which the Lord gave to Moses various laws that would govern the li

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 21, verses 1 through 11, Exodus 21, one through eleven. And this is the inspired, the inerrant and infallible word of God. Let’s hear God’s word.  Now, these are the rules that you shall set before them. When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years and in the seventh, he shall go out free for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single. If he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her masters and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, I love my master, my wife and my children, I will not go out free, then his master shall bring him to God and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl and he shall be his slave forever. When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. If she does not please her master who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people since he has broken faith with her. If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing without payment of money. New Testament Reading And now turn to Mark’s gospel, Mark chapter 10, verses 42 through 45 for the New Testament reading. Mark 10, 42 through 45.  And Jesus called them to him and said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them and their great ones exercise authority over them, but it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant. And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. The Fine Print of God’s Covenant You may turn back to Exodus chapter 21 for our Sermon Text this morning. Today, we are beginning to look at what you might call the fine print, the fine print of God’s covenant with his people Israel. The major aspects or parts of that covenant have been made very clear. The Lord has promised to his people, Israel, that he will be their God. And by his loving them, by his hearing their cries, by redeeming them from their bondage in Egypt, God has made them his people. And the Lord has made his commandments very clear to the people of Israel. In fact, he has made them terrifyingly clear. With his own voice that thundered from the top of Mount Sinai, with his own finger by which he inscribed the words of the Decalogue upon the tablets of stone, the Lord has given to the people of Israel his 10 commandments. And he has told the Israelites what they must do to be faithful to this covenant that he has brought them into. They must keep his commandments, keep his law. But now the Lord has called Moses back up to Mount Sinai. And with our passage this morning, he begins to give to Moses all kinds of laws and instructions dealing with the day-to-day lives of the Israelites as they were going to live together as a nation, as a society. So he says in verse one of chapter 21, now, these are the rules that you shall set before them. And these rules begin here in chapter 21, verse one, they go all the way to the end of chapter 23. And these are the rules that I’m calling the fine print of the covenant that God made with Israel. And that’s because these rules are very detailed. And if I may say so, with all due reverence to the word of God, when we come to these various laws and rules, we find them to be a bit tedious to read. I imagine it’s about here in Exodus that a lot of people

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 20, verses 18 to 26. And this is the inerrant and infallible word of God. Now, when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountains smoking, the people were afraid and trembled. And they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear for God has come to test you that the fear of him may be before you that you may not sin.” The people stood far off while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel, ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you profane it. And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.'” New Testament Reading Our New Testament reading is Hebrews chapter 12, Hebrews 12 verses 18 through 24. Hebrews 12, 18 through 24. For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given. If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned. Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to innumerable angels and festal gathering and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven and to God, the judge of all and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. What it Means to Fear the Lord I’ll begin this morning by asking you a question. Do you fear God or do you walk in the fear of God? As Christians today, we don’t usually speak of our faith in this way. We talk about knowing God or loving God, worshiping God, but not so often about fearing God. In fact, to fear the Lord, that phrase may even sound a little old-fashioned to us, kind of like the way they talked at your grandparents’ fundamentalist Baptist church. We prefer to talk about the joy and peace of knowing God, being in communion with Him, but not so much about fearing God or fearing the Lord. But the scriptures often speak in this way. In Psalm 130 verse four, we read, “But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared.” First Peter 2, 17: “Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the emperor.” And in the Bible, almost in every situation, when God reveals himself to someone or some people in a way that is very extraordinary, very personal, that person or those people always come away from their encounter with God with an overwhelming sense of fear and dread. In the scriptures, when someone meets God, it is always a fearful thing. For example, in the book of Judges, when the angel of the Lord appears to Manoah and his wife, those would become the parents of Samson. After the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah, he said, “We shall surely die for we have seen God.” And you know the response of Isaiah the prophet when he was in the temple and the Lord appeared to Isaiah in the fullness of his glory and majesty. The Lord said, “Woe is me for I am lost for I’m a man of unclean lips. And I

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading, our first Old Testament reading, is Exodus chapter 20, verse 17. And this is the inerrant and infallible word of God. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s. The other Old Testament reading for this morning is from 1 Kings chapter 21, 1 Kings chapter 21, a passage that we will consider this morning. And this is beginning at verse one and going to verse 16. So 1 Kings chapter 21, one through 16. Now Naboth, the Jezreelite, had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And after this, Ahab said to Naboth, give me your vineyard that I may have it for a vegetable garden because it is near to my house. And I will give you a better vineyard for it. Or if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money. But Naboth said to Ahab, the Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers. And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him. For he had said, I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food. But Jezebel, his wife came to him and said to him, why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food? And he said to her, because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, give me your vineyard for money or else if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it. And he answered, I will not give you my vineyard. And Jezebel his wife said to him, do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal. And she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. And she wrote in the letters, proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people and set two worthless men opposite him and let them bring a charge against him saying, you have cursed God and the king, then take him out and stone him to death. And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city did as Jezebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth cursed God and the king. So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned. He is dead. As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead. And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it. New Testament Reading Our New Testament reading is Luke chapter 12, verses 13 through 21. Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. But he said to him, man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? And he said to them, take care and be on your guard against all covetousness for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. And he told them a parable saying the land of a rich man produced plentifully. And he thought to himself, what shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops. And he said, I will do this. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones. And there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, fool, this night your soul is required of yo

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 20, verse 16. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.  New Testament Reading And let’s turn to John chapter eight for our Old, or rather our New Testament reading, John chapter eight, verse 31. John 8, 31 through 47. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. They answered him, we are offspring of Abraham and have never been a slave to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free? Jesus answered them, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever. The son remains forever. So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my father, and you do what you have heard from your father. They answered him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, if you are Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works of your father. They said to him, we were not born of sexual immorality. We have one father, even God. Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. The Untamable Beast The Bible tells us there is a certain creature in the world that is so wild, so savage, that no man has been able to tame it or to bring it under control. It’s a creature that is so dangerous, you’ll never see one in the zoo. You’ll see polar bears and alligators and crocodiles in the zoo, but not this beast. What is this terrible creature? Well, it lives in your mouth. It is your tongue. It is the words that you speak. James in his letter says this about the tongue in James chapter three, for every kind of beast and bird of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. There is great power in the tongue. With your tongue, by the grace of God, you can do great good, but also you can do incalculable harm. James goes on to say, with it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. With your tongue, you can bless God, you can praise God, you can also comfort the sick, you can encourage the discouraged. With your tongue, you can even tell someone the way of salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Or you can do great evil with the words that you speak. With your tongue, you can emotionally damage someone for life. With your hurtful words, you can ruin a person’s reputation. With malicious rumors, you can drag their good name through the mud. You can curse someone who is made in God’s image. And because of the mighty power of the tongue, the Bible has much to say about the words that we speak and what we say and how we say it. And the Bible’s teaching on the right and the wrong use of our tongue is essentially summed up in these short words or

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 20 verse 15. You shall not steal. That’s the eighth commandment.  New Testament Reading And now you can, we’ll turn back to that in a minute, but now let’s go to the New Testament for our New Testament reading, which is Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians four, verses 25 through 32. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God and Christ forgave you. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. And this is the infallible and inerrant word of God. The Eighth Commandment So this morning we are looking at Exodus chapter 20, verse 15, the eighth commandment. And as we have been taking a closer look these past several weeks at the Ten Commandments and taking a close look at each one of these commandments, one thing that we have seen is that with these commandments, there is always more than here that meets the eye. Most of the commandments are very short. In fact, some of them, like the commandment we are considering this morning, the Eighth Commandment, in Hebrew, it’s only two words long. So they are very brief, very short. Despite that, though, the way in which each of these commandments applies to our lives is very comprehensive, very thorough. In fact, if we take the Ten Commandments as a whole, there is no sin that is not forbidden here, and there is no obedience that is not commanded here. And so God’s law comes to us in this very concise, succinct list of 10 commandments, and yet this law applies to the entirety of our lives, to everything that we do or say or think. The brevity of the 10 commandments also tells us something about God’s view of sin and how different that is from our own way of dealing with sin. We tend to rationalize our sin, to explain it away. We use euphemisms to speak about our sin. But when we read these 10 commandments, we’re reminded that sin is sin. Particularly when we consider the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ about these commandments, we know that God calls a spade a spade. Jesus said that to lust after a woman in your heart, that is nothing less than to commit adultery with her. To be angry at someone is nothing less than to commit murder. In this truthful, this straightforward way of identifying a sin for what it is, this is especially applicable when we come to consider the eighth commandment. You shall not steal. Very few people consider themselves to be thieves. Very few people will confess to the sin of stealing. But stealing and thievery are exactly the right words to describe so many practices that are so universal, so accepted, that they are essentially regarded as normal human behavior. For example, what is more normal than for an employee to take it easy at the office when the boss is away that day? And yet, despite the fact that that’s normal and accepted, that’s really a form of stealing. A person is stealing from his company the work and productivity he is supposed to give to it. But who considers that thievery or stealing? Well, God does. And he considers many other things to be stealing that we may consider to be accepted or just part of the world. And so we may not consider ourselves thieves, but w

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Genesis chapter three, verses 14 and 15. And this is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant word of God. The Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock, and above all beasts of the field. On your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. New Testament Reading And now let’s turn to Matthew chapter one, and this is our sermon text for today. Matthew Chapter 1 verses 18 through 25. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit and her husband, Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. The Name of Jesus Last Lord’s Day, we looked at the same passage from Matthew, and we considered the name Emmanuel, God with us. This was one of the two names that were given to Jesus at his birth. And the other name that was given to him, of course, was Jesus. And many of you probably know that the word Jesus, our English word Jesus comes from the Greek word, which is a word that is taken from Hebrew. And in Hebrew, it is Yeshua or Joshua. And the word means the Lord is salvation or the Lord saves. In this name of Christ, Jesus signifies that with his birth, God was fulfilling his ancient promises that he had given to his people from long ago, that he would bring salvation to his people specifically, that the Lord would save his people from their sins. And that’s what we’ll focus on today. We’ll consider how the birth of Jesus was God’s accomplishing for us, a salvation, a salvation specifically from sin and from the death that we all deserve, the eternal death that we deserve because of our sin. The good news of God saving us through his son, Jesus Christ, we hear this so often that it can become familiar to us. And we might forget that God was not under any obligation. God was not bound by anything outside himself to save us. God could have, and He would have been perfectly just, He would have been perfectly righteous, He could have simply left us in our lost condition, in our condemned state. And He would have been just as good, just as glorious, just as praiseworthy if He had done that. But the fact that God did decree our salvation in eternity, the fact that He did send His Son into the world for that salvation, because he did not have to, this is purely the result of the unsearchable riches of his love and grace to us undeserving people, to undeserving sinners such as us. God freely chose to save his people, although we did not deserve it. And because God bound himself to this purpose because he did determine in eternity that he would save a people, that he would save a sinful people, there was only one way that he could do that, and that is the way in which he did it, by sending his son, Jesus Christ. Normally, rightfully, we are hesitant to speak about what God has to do or what God cannot do or w

Old Testament Reading Our Old Testament reading is Isaiah chapter seven, Isaiah seven, verses 10 through 17. And this is the infallible, the holy, the inerrant word of God. Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ask a sign of the Lord your God, let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask and I will not put the Lord to the test. And he said, here then, O house of David, is it too little for you to weary men that you weary my God also? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, the king of Assyria. New Testament Reading And now let’s turn to Matthew chapter 1, verses 18 through 25. This is our sermon text this morning, Matthew 1, 18 through 25. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother, Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband, Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. The Faithfulness of God in Keeping His Promises Our theme for this Advent season, as we consider the birth of Christ, as that is given to us in the Gospel of Matthew, the theme that we are considering is the faithfulness of God, the faithfulness of God in keeping his promises. And last week, as we looked at the genealogy with which Matthew begins his gospel, we saw that even in that long list of names there, there are indications that God has been faithful to keep his promises. He kept his promises to Abraham. He kept his promises to David when he raised up the Lord Jesus Christ. And this morning, we are giving our attention to Matthew’s account, later in chapter one, the passage that we read of the conception and the birth of Jesus. And in this passage, the baby born to Mary is given two names. First, according to the commandment of the angel to Joseph, he is to be called Jesus. And secondly, he is called Emmanuel. This coming Lord’s Day, we will consider the name of Jesus, but this morning we will focus on the meaning of the second name that he has given, Emmanuel. As Matthew tells us, Emmanuel in Hebrew means God with us. And so Jesus, as the fulfillment of God’s promises to his people, the promise of God to be with his people, Jesus is the fulfillments of that word, that promise that God had made. The Circumstances of Jesus’ Birth First I want to look with you at what the promise of Emmanuel meant to the people of Israel at the time that Jesus was born. And then we’ll consider what the promise of Emmanuel means for you and me today as those who believe in and belong to the Lord Jesus. First of all, what did Emmanuel mean to the people of Israel? Matthew says in verse 18, he says, Matthew says that Mary was betrothed to Joseph, and in that day, betrothal

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is 2 Samuel chapter seven, verses four through 17. I’ll start reading at verse one. So 2 Samuel chapter seven, verse one through 17. And this is God’s infallible and inerrant word. Now, when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” But the same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, thus says the Lord, ‘Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” Now therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture from following the sheep that I should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.'” In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. New Testament Reading And now let’s turn to Matthew chapter one for our New Testament reading. And this is our sermon text as well this morning. Matthew chapter one, verses one through 17. Matthew 1, 1 through 17. The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac and Isaac, the father of Jacob and Jacob, the father of Judah and his brothers and Judah, the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez, the father of Hezron, and Hezron, the father of Ram, and Ram, the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab, the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon, the father of Salmon, and Salmon, the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz, the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed, the father of Jesse, and Jesse, the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah. And Solomon, the father of Rehoboam. And Rehoboam, the father of Abijah. And Abijah, the father of Asaph. And Asaph, the father of Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat, the father of Joram. And Joram, the father of Uzziah. And Uzziah, the father of Jotham. And Jotham, the father of Ahaz. And Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah. And Hezekiah, the father of Manasseh. And Manasseh, the father of Amos. And Amos, the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, a

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 20, verse 14. So just one short verse, but this will be our sermon text for this morning. Exodus 20:14, and this is the inerrant and infallible word of God. You shall not commit adultery. New Testament Reading And let’s turn to the New Testament for our New Testament reading from Matthew chapter 5, verses 27 through 30. Matthew 5:27 through 30. You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away, for it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away, for it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” You can turn back to Exodus 20. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.  The 7th Commandment The commandment that we are looking at this morning may be of all the 10 Commandments the one that presents for us the most challenges as Christians today. And that’s true not only because of the way in which the Commandments applies to our lives personally, but perhaps even more than that, or at least another challenge equal to that, is that the more that we affirm and embrace all that this commandment teaches, the more that we will find ourselves at odds with the culture and the world around us. There’s no biblical teaching that our increasingly pagan and secular society finds more disagreeable and more objectionable than the Bible’s teaching on sexual morality, sexual ethics. And one question that confronts us as Christians today is when it comes to matters of sexuality, will we allow the word of God to inform us of what is right and wrong in this area, or will we be conformed to the prevailing, the dominant views of our society? As a Christian, are you prepared to take your stand on the word of God and to believe, to accept, to embrace what it teaches on matters of sexuality, no matter how unpopular, no matter how difficult that teaching may be? Are you willing for the sake of the truth of God’s word to be considered in the eyes of the unbelieving world, not just old fashioned and prude because you adhere to what the Bible says about sexuality, but in the eyes of the world increasingly, are you willing to be seen as even ignorant, bigoted, hateful, even an enemy of the public good? A faithful stand on the seventh commandment puts us in a place where we will be the object of the scorn and of the hostility of the world around us. The very things that we affirm about sexuality in matters of marriage and sex and so on, the very things that we affirm to be good and right, those are the things that the world affirms and declares to be evil and wrong and vice versa. And this turning upside down of right and wrong, according to the scriptures, this is characteristic of the world in which we live, a world that has fallen from the grace of God, a world under the curse of sin. Isaiah says in chapter 5, verse 20, that there are those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. And so the place that we start with as we consider the seventh commandment is when it comes to our understanding of marriage and sexuality, how do we know what is truly good and sweet and light? Well, we know because of what the word of God declares to us. And this is where we must take our stand, no matter how contrary it may be to the spirit of the age in which we live. And with all that in mind, as we approach the Seventh Commandment, there are a couple of ways that we could approach this commandment. One way, which is perfectly legitimate, and we’ll touch on it, is that we can see it as a

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 20, verse 13. And this is the inerrant and infallible word of God. Exodus 20, 13, you shall not murder.  New Testament Reading And for our New Testament reading, we’ll hear from Matthew chapter 5, Matthew 5, verses 21 through 26. Matthew 5, 21 through 26. And these are the words of Jesus. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council. And whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Well, as you know, the question whether or not the Ten Commandments should be posted in public places, in schools and so on, this question has generated much controversy in recent years. And much of the opposition to the idea of posting the Ten Commandments is the notion that the Ten Commandments are the unique expression of just two religions, Judaism and Christianity. And so that posting the Ten Commandments would give preference to just one or two religions and not others. And it is true, of course, that the Ten Commandments are given to us in the scriptures of what we call the Old Testament, that is, the Jewish people, and of course this is our Bible as well, and so the Ten Commandments are contained in our holy scriptures. However, the commandments, or many of the commandments at least, give expression to moral ideals that are embraced virtually throughout the world and by virtually all religions. The commandments say, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness. Most people will agree that adultery, stealing, and lying are bad things, that these are immoral things, things to be condemned. And perhaps the one commandment of all 10 of the 10 commandments that everybody agrees on, at least in theory, not in practice, but at least in theory, is the sixth commandment, you shall not murder. In the abstract, in theory, nobody says it’s right or good to commit murder. And that’s because God has deeply ingrained in our consciences the truth that it is wrong to unjustly take away the life of another human being. And at the same time, though everyone agrees that this is a good thing, you shall not murder, virtually all people, when they read the list of the Ten Commandments, will say to themselves, well, I’ve kept this commandment at least. I haven’t killed anybody. So people not only agree that it’s a good commandment, but most people will say, I have kept this commandment. In fact, this is often the very thing that people tell themselves or tell others when they are reasoning or arguing, that they are basically good, moral, decent people. You’ll hear somebody say something like, well, I’m not perfect. Nobody’s perfect. I’ve said lies before. I’ve cheated on my taxes. But hey, it’s not like I’ve ever murdered anybody. And so keeping this commandment, at least superficially keeping this commandment, qualifies us in our minds, in our natural way of thinking, as being good people. But that way of thinking is the result of a very superficial reading of the Sixth Commandment. The Sixth Commandment covers much, much more than the actual crime of murder. And the more you see, and we will see, all that the Sixth Commandment applies to, the mo

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 20, verse 12. Exodus 20, verse 12. And this is the inerrant, the infallible, the holy word of God. Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. New Testament Reading And for our New Testament reading, we will read from Luke chapter two. Luke chapter two, verses 41 through 52. This is the one passage in the gospels that tell us about the boyhood of Jesus. And we learned in this passage that Jesus, though he was and is the son of God, as a boy, he was submissive to his parents. He kept the fifth commandment. So Luke chapter two, verses 41 through 52. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover, and when he was 12 years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group, they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances. And when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem searching for him. After three days, they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress. And he said to them, Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father’s house? And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her hearts. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. A Crisis of Authority You have probably seen the bumper sticker that says, question authority. To be sure, there are times when we do need to question authority, but the slogan on that bumper sticker captures very well the general mindset of many, many people today, and that is a mindset that sees all human authority as suspect, and a mindset that says that every institution in which some people have authority over others must not only be questioned, but often that authority must be resisted and rejected. Almost everywhere you look today in our world, there is a crisis of authority. Children rebel against their parents at home. Teachers at school often struggle to maintain order in their classrooms. Employees threaten to intimidate management through strikes or work stoppages. Political protesters become violent, destroying property, attacking law enforcement. And you see a crisis of authority in churches as well, when church leaders have no meaningful oversight over their congregants, or when a Christian refuses to acknowledge, at least by his actions, that no other Christian has any right to have any spiritual authority over him. Let me read to you a quote from a very famous person that you know about, and I’ll tell you who wrote this after I read the quote. This is what he wrote about children in particular or young people in particular and their lack of respect for authority. He says, “youth today have luxury, or they love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, no respect for older people, and talk nonsense when they should work. Young people do not stand up any longer when adults enter the room. They contradict their parents, talk too much in company, guzzle their food, lay their legs on the table, and tyrannize their elders.”  Well, that was written by none other than the philosopher Socrates, in 400 BC. And so it’s not just in our time that there is a crisis of authority, but every time and place has had its problems with respect for authority. And the problem is timeless becau

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 20, verses eight through 11. And this is the inerrant, the infallible word of God. 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 to 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 heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Old Testament Reading Let’s hear from the New Testament. Our New Testament reading is Mark chapter two. Mark 2, verses 23 through 28. Mark 2, 23 through 28. One Sabbath, Jesus was going through the grain field, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? And he said to them, have you never read what David did when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him. And he said to them, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. The Fourth Commandment We are working our way through the Book of Exodus, and we are working our way, therefore, here in Exodus 20 through the Ten Commandments. And today, in our walk through the Ten Commandments, we have come to the one commandment that is the most controversial among Christians. Christians have long debated exactly how or even if the fourth commandment applies to us as Christians today, and exactly how we are to keep this commandment. One Dutch theologian of the last century estimated that in his country, the Netherlands, 10,000 families had serious arguments about what is not and what is permissible on the Sabbath day. And he calculated that that works out to about half a million quarrels per year over the Sabbath day. And my guess is if that were someone to attempt to do such a count today among Christians in our nation, he would find that the number of arguments over what’s permissible on the Sabbath would be far lower, much closer to zero perhaps than half a million. And that’s not because all Christians today have come to a universal agreement on how to keep the fourth commandment and how it applies to us, but rather it’s because by and large, the church in our day just doesn’t give too much thought to the fourth commandment at all. We don’t give much thought to what it means to keep the fourth commandment is probably the most neglected, the most ignored of all the 10 commandments that God has given to us. Now, I wouldn’t say that when families were fighting over the meaning of the fourth commandment, that those were the good old days. I’m not in favor of more arguments in Christian homes. However, I do think the church would do well to give much more thought and attention to the fourth commandment, even if we don’t come to a universal agreement on how we are to keep it. Nevertheless, at least we would be wrestling with the meaning of it, taking it more seriously. The fact that we don’t have disagreements over the fourth commandment reveals just how little importance that we attach to it. In fact, for many Christians today, Sunday has become virtually identical to Saturday, just another Saturday with the exception of a couple of hours for church in the morning. And I believe that, sadly, this is one very visible way in which the church has capitulated to the secular spirit of the age. Just like for the world, for unbelievers, so for too many Christians, Su

Old Testament Reading The Old Testament reading is Exodus chapter 20, verse seven, Exodus 20, verse seven. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.  New Testament Reading Let’s turn to the New Testament for our New Testament reading from Philippians chapter two, verses one through 11. Philippians two, one through 11. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant. Being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.  Go ahead and turn back to Exodus chapter 20, verse seven. This is our sermon text for this morning. And again, this is the third commandment as we are working our way through the 10 commandments. Everybody in the world has a favorite word. It’s a word that always catches your attention, a word that is music to your ears, a word that is truly precious to you. And I know what your favorite word is. Your favorite word is your name. And your name, of course, is more than a mere word. It’s more than a simple label that we use to distinguish you from other people, but it stands for what kind of person you are. Your character, your identity is wrapped up in your name. And so that your name becomes invested with everything that makes up who you are as a person. Your name carries that with it whenever it is sounded. And it’s the same with God. God has a name as well. And His name is not just a word, a mere word that we use to refer to God, but it is a symbol that stands for the nature, the character of God. Everything about God, everything that is true about Him, His transcendent glory, His holiness, His grace, His love, this is all wrapped up in His name. As one person said, God himself is present in his name. We sang from Psalm eight earlier and David in that Psalm in verse one, he says, “Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth?” He could have said, “How majestic are you in all the earth?” But he says the same thing when he says, “How majestic is your name in all the earth? You have set your glory above the heavens.” And it’s because the name of God is invested with and carries with it all that is true about God, His holiness, His majesty, His greatness. Because that is true, God has given us the third commandment. The Third Commandment Again, verse seven, Exodus 20, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. For the Lord will not hold them guiltless who takes His name in vain.” Whatever we do with God’s name, whether we curse it or bless it, we are doing to God himself. And our attitude toward the name of God, whether we reverence it or whether we use it flippantly or carelessly, that shows us what is our attitude towards God himself. Now, one distinctive feature of the third commandment, and if you are reading very carefully, you may have noticed this, but unlike the first two commandments, the Lord, he refers to himself in the third commandment in t