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Israel stays at Sinai for 11 
months in real time. So from Exodus 19, 1 to Numbers 
10. And they stay there for 57 chapters 
in narrative time. This is important given the fact 
that 68 chapters precede Sinai and 59 chapters follow it. So Sinai is central to the Torah. So the giving of the law is, 
as he says, central in the life of Israel. we're going to be 
here for a little while. I spoke with Mike Kirkpatrick 
today and he said, will you go through each one of the commandments 
singly? And I said, yes, of course I 
will. So we've gone through this material before. I hope we go 
through it a lot more as long as I'm here, because it's important 
for us to have a good understanding of the law of God. So our focus 
tonight will be verses one and two, which is the preface to 
the 10 commandments. So we'll look at the preface, 
to the Ten Commandments, and then secondly, the uses of the 
Ten Commandments, and then finally, the uniqueness of the Ten Commandments. I may also refer to them as the 
Decalogue, which literally means ten words. So they are synonymously 
called the Ten Commandments in a couple places, and then the 
words, or ten words in other places. So Decalogue is another 
way to identify what we find here in Exodus 20, and then in 
Deuteronomy chapter 5. So I'll read the chapter, and 
then as I said, we'll focus on verses one and two. And God spoke 
all these words saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought 
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 
You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make 
for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that 
is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that 
is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them 
nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am 
a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, 
to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing 
mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. 
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. Remember 
the Sabbath day to keep it holy. "'Six days you shall labor and 
do all your work, "'but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord 
your God. "'In it you shall do no work, 
you nor your son, "'nor your daughter, nor your male servant, 
"'nor your female servant, nor your cattle, "'nor your stranger 
who is within your gates. "'For in six days the Lord made 
the heavens and the earth, "'the sea and all that is in them, 
and rested the seventh day. "'Therefore the Lord blessed 
the Sabbath day and hallowed it. "'Honor your father and your 
mother, "'that your days may be long upon the land "'which 
the Lord your God is giving you. "'You shall not murder. "'You 
shall not commit adultery. "'You shall not steal. "'You 
shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. "'You 
shall not covet your neighbor's house. "'You shall not covet 
your neighbor's wife, "'nor his male servant, nor his female 
servant, "'nor his ox, nor his donkey, "'nor anything that is 
your neighbor's. Now all the people witnessed 
the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, 
and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they 
trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, you 
speak with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us 
lest we die. And Moses said to the people, 
Do not fear, for God has come to test you, and that His fear 
may be before you, so that you may not sin. So the people stood 
afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God 
was. Then the Lord said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children 
of Israel, You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 
You shall not make anything to be with me. Gods of silver or 
gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. An altar of earth 
you shall make for me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt 
offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In 
every place where I record my name, I will come to you, and 
I will bless you. And if you make me an altar of 
stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone, for if you use 
your tool on it, you have profaned it. nor shall you go up by steps 
to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it. Amen. So we find ourselves in the central 
spot of the book of Exodus in terms of a sort of a homiletical 
or preaching outline. You have deliverance, God saves 
or redeems his people in chapters 1, to 18, and then you have demand, 
God commands his people in chapters 20 to 24, and then you have dwelling, 
chapters 25 to 40, God gives detailed legislation concerning 
the construction of the tabernacle such that he can dwell in the 
midst of his people. As Dale Ralph Davis says, the 
God of the bush, Exodus 3, is the God of the mountain, Exodus 
19 and following, and he is the God of the tent, who dwells with 
his people in chapters 25 to 40. So as I said, tonight we're 
going to look at the preface to the Decalogue, Second, the 
use of or uses of the Decalogue, and then finally the uniqueness 
of the Decalogue. I should tell you there's a bit 
of difference in terms of the way that men treat this passage. Roman Catholics and Lutherans 
combine the First and Second Commandments, and then they split 
the Tenth. So they end up with 10 commandments, 
but their structuring system is a little bit different than 
ours. So they combine one and two, and then they split the 
10th, so that you shall not covet your neighbor's house, and then 
your neighbor's wife are two separate commands. Again, it's 
the same data, probably some theological concerns for why 
they do what they do, other than the fact that they're miserable 
wretches, just kidding. I wanted to make sure everybody 
was alert and awake and alive and ready to go. Well, let's 
look first at the preface to the Decalogue, and there's three 
things to observe. Notice the identity of the lawgiver, 
second, the activity of the lawgiver, and then finally, the graciousness 
of the lawgiver. Notice, God spoke all these words 
according to verse 1. The Ten Commandments are oftentimes 
referred to as the Law of Moses. That's not altogether bad, as 
long as we understand that it was Moses who mediated that law. Moses didn't originate it. Moses 
didn't come up with it. Moses didn't invent it. God was 
the author and the maker of it, Moses the giver and minister 
of it from God. So we need to appreciate that 
God spoke all these words saying, because oftentimes persons have 
an ax to grind with the law of Moses and they blame Moses. Well, God is the author, Moses 
was simply the instrument by which God communicated his law 
to Israel. Notice, as well, not only is 
He the giver of the law, but it underscores the God who is 
giving the law. Notice in verse 2, I am the Lord 
your God. So God has the authority to command 
because He is over all. And as I mentioned last week, 
much of this is a covenantal document. And in a covenantal 
document, the one making the covenant oftentimes rehearses 
his history with the persons he's making the covenant with. 
And you see that same sort of motif here. He emphasizes that 
he is the one who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out 
of the house of bondage. So he rehearses their history 
together, and that underscores again his authority, but as well 
the fact that he is their covenant God. When you see what the New 
King James does in verse 2, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital 
D, that is the tetragrammaton, the four letters revealed by 
God at the burning bush. We typically call that, or we 
refer to that name as Yahweh. Well, the New King James simply 
translates Yahweh or every use of that with these all caps with 
reference to Lord. So when you see all caps LORD, 
think Yahweh, the covenant God. And this use of the name Yahweh 
and the reference to your God underscores the relationship 
that God has with these particular people. And with reference to 
that covenant name Yahweh, Stephen Charnock says it signifies his 
immutability as well as his eternity. It highlights something of who 
God is. God is ultimately a spirit, as 
we'll see even more vividly in John chapter four, but each of 
the names given to God are revealed to us by God, show us something 
about Him. Turretin says, but since eternal 
existence, omnipotent power, and immutable truth belongs to 
God alone, the name Jehovah, or Yahweh, which embraces all 
these three, ought to be peculiar to Him alone. And Bovink says 
Yahweh describes Him as the one who in His grace remains forever 
faithful. That's a good way to understand 
that. I am the Lord your God. And then notice in terms of his 
activity, it is redemption, it is deliverance. In other words, 
all that has preceded in chapters one to 18 sets the stage for 
what comes now in terms of demand. God graciously redeems his people 
out of the house of bondage. And at that vantage point, he 
then gives them law on how they are to conduct themselves as 
they enter into their tenure in the land. Notice his personal 
involvement with them. I am the Lord, your God, who 
brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Now, as we have gone through 
this particular book, we have noted several things that are 
interesting about this deliverance. Go back to chapter two for just 
a moment to see something of God's heart toward this people. In Exodus chapter two, notice 
in verse 23. Now it happened in the process 
of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel 
groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out, and their 
cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their 
groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with 
Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children 
of Israel, and God acknowledged them. So they're crying out here 
not in repentance, they're crying out not because they're sorrowful 
over their sin, they're crying out because they're in pain, 
they're suffering, they're under bondage. They have oppression 
in terms of Pharaoh, they have an extermination process that 
they have just witnessed in terms of the elimination of the firstborn. So they cry out to God, not from 
the experience of genuine sorrow over sin, but out of pain and 
misery, and thus God hears them. Same thing in chapter 3 at verse 
7, I've surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt 
and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know 
their sorrows. I think that's all very comforting 
and encouraging information for the people of God today, because 
God hasn't changed. God hears the cries and sees 
the sorrows, and he pities those who are going through the various 
afflictions and hardships that we suffer in this lower world. 
same thing in chapter 6 at verse 5. And I have also heard the 
groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, 
and I have remembered my covenant. So he observed Israel's sufferings 
and he acted on their behalf. He acted providentially, he acted 
powerfully, and he acted personally in order to deliver them from 
that oppression. in order to deliver them from 
that tyranny. So he sees their sufferings and 
then he engages his own activity in terms of deliverance. Notice 
again in chapter 20 at verse 2, who brought you out of the 
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. He does so to display 
his glory. He does so to display His power. We saw that as we moved up until 
this particular point. God does this to crush the oppressor. God does this to save His children. But God does this as well to 
demonstrate that He alone is the living and true God. Remember 
in Exodus chapter 12 at verse 12, he not only executes judgment 
upon Egypt and Pharaoh, but against the gods of Egypt to show and 
demonstrate that there is but one only, the living and the 
true God. As well, he delivers his people 
from their bondage because of the covenant made with Abraham. 
We've seen that in a couple of instances just in reading now, 
but turn again back to chapter 6 where it's developed even more 
fully. Exodus chapter 6, I read verse 
5, notice verse 6. Therefore say to the children 
of Israel, I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under 
the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rescue you from their 
bondage and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and 
with great judgments. I will take you as my people 
and I will be your God. And you shall know that I am 
the Lord, your God, who brings you out from under the burdens 
of the Egyptians. and I will bring you into the 
land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and 
I will give it to you as a heritage. I am the Lord." So God makes 
good on his promises. We've been together in this room 
on Wednesday night for however long in the penitent. We've seen 
in Genesis on several occasions where God promises the patriarchs, 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give them the land of 
Canaan. It would be their inheritance. It would be the place for them 
to take root and to live and to worship the true and living 
God. He has delivered them from the bondage. He is delivering 
them from all of the wanderings in the wilderness, and He will 
bring them safe and secure to that land that He had promised. 
And then in terms of the graciousness of the law giver, if you look 
at the particular order that we find the text in, notice it's 
not demand and then the gift. Rather, it's the gift and then 
the command. God saves, God redeems, God delivers 
Israel, and then God demands from them or gives them promises. Now, that is somewhat parallel 
to the New Covenant, but the New Covenant even is exceedingly 
more glorious than the Old Covenant, because much of their tenure 
in the land was dependent upon their own faithfulness to the 
Covenant. Last week I said that this covenant was, in fact, a 
covenant of works. Insofar as they were faithful, 
they benefited. When they were unfaithful, they 
were cursed. Well, in the new covenant, it's 
only grace. It's blessing. It's provision. 
It's all that God has promised in terms of the life and the 
death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. But nevertheless, 
you see that similar pattern here. God first underscores His 
grace, and then He gives them the law. Walter Kaiser says the 
lawgiver places his law in the environment of grace, for it 
was his gracious act of redemption and deliverance from Egypt that 
revealed his name Yahweh. So in that context, I am the 
Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out 
of the house of bondage, now this then is how you are to live. So he's not saying at this point, 
do this and then I will deliver you from the house of bondage. 
Do this and then I will free you from the oppression that 
you find yourself in Egypt. No, God does that. Again, not 
in response to their repentance from sin, not in response to 
their covenant faithfulness, not in response to anything, 
but according to his good pleasure, according to his free will, according 
to the love that he had set upon them. So he redeems them, and 
then he commands them. And the Ten Commandments now 
follow. The Westminster Larger Catechism 
makes this statement concerning the preface. The preface to the 
Ten Commandments is contained in these words, I am the Lord 
thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out 
of the house of bondage. wherein God manifests His sovereignty, 
which He does. He has authority to speak the 
law in the hearing of these people and demand their obedience. Wherein 
God manifests His sovereignty as being Jehovah, the eternal, 
immutable, and almighty God, having His being in and of Himself, 
and giving being to all His words and works, and that He is a God 
in covenant, as with Israel of old, so with all His people, 
who as He brought them out of their bondage in Egypt, so He 
delivers us from our spiritual thralldom. and that therefore 
we are bound to take him for our God alone and to keep all 
his commandments. Again, the response to God's 
grace in terms of the New Testament counterpart is obedience, not 
unto salvation, but obedience because we have been saved. That 
is a blessed feature of the Christian religion. It's not the command 
and then the benefit. It's the benefit and then the 
command. If we want to speak in grammatical 
categories, you have the indicative, what God has done in the gospel 
of our salvation. On the heels of that comes the 
imperative or the command on how then we are to live. Every 
other religion inverts that order. The command or the imperative 
comes first and then comes the reward or the benefit. Do this 
and you shall live. No, in the New Testament, in 
terms of the covenant of grace, it's Christ has done this, look 
unto him and live. And when by grace you do that, 
now Christ points you to his law, not as a means for salvation, 
but as a description of your sanctification, a pattern for 
the life that you are to pursue in terms of your gratitude to 
God for his having given you the grace to deliver you from 
your guilt and your misery. Now, let's look secondly at the 
uses of the Decalogue, or the uses of the Ten Commandments. And there are three, and if you 
attend the Confession Studies, or you've been around for any 
time, you'll probably know these, but I think it bears repetition. In the first place, there is 
what's called the civil or political use of the law. Civil or political 
use of the law. And what that essentially means 
is, is that God restrains His creature. Moeller says, the political 
or civil use according to which the law serves the commonwealth 
or body politic as a force, and here it is, for the restraint 
of sin. So in its broadest use in terms 
of mankind as a whole, the law of God restrains. Turn to 1 Timothy 
1. We won't look at every text that 
underscores each of these uses, but some of the key texts, because 
again, I think it's very helpful for us to know how to use God's 
law. because we can use it unlawfully 
if we are not careful. 1 Timothy 1, verse 8. Notice what the apostle says. 
Well, just to put it in its larger context. Verse 3, as I urged 
you, when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you may 
charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed 
to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than 
godly edification, which is in faith. So why does Paul send 
Timothy to Ephesus? Because there's problems there. 
Timothy was the 18 that was sent in to set things in order. He's the Apostle's right hand 
man and so the Apostle sends him there because there's things 
that are disorderly. Verse 5, now the purpose of the 
commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, 
and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have 
turned aside to idle talk. Now notice, desiring to be teachers 
of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things 
which they affirm. Just because somebody says they're 
a Bible teacher or they say they're a teacher of the law, it doesn't 
necessarily make it so. I may say that I'm a unicorn, 
but if I don't have a horn and I can't fly, it isn't necessarily 
so. There are persons that are arrogant. 
There are persons that are proud. There are persons that are incompetent 
that want to take to themselves titles that they have no business 
taking to themselves. I mean, should I point us to 
our political class? We have some of the greatest 
fools leading us that the world has ever seen. Now, notice what 
he says in verse 8. But we know that the law is good 
if one uses it lawfully. So the law is good. This echoes 
what Paul says in Romans chapter 7. But notice the qualification, 
if one uses it lawfully. Well, how does one use the law 
unlawfully? Well, a gospel preacher would 
stand up and say, if you obey the Ten Commandments, then you 
will be saved. That's an unlawful use of the 
law. Man fallen in Adam cannot obey 
that law in the manner in which God commands. It needs to be 
entire, it needs to be exact, it needs to be perpetual, and 
it needs to be personal obedience to the law every jot and tittle. So no man in Adam is fit and 
able to do that. If it were the case, then Christ 
died in vain. So if a preacher says, keep the 
law unto salvation, that preacher is using the law unlawfully. 
That's why it's important that we know the right use of the 
law. Now notice what he says. And 
he's speaking in a confined and narrow context here. This isn't 
everything that the Apostle Paul has to say about the law. It's 
just not. But it does underscore the civil 
or political use. Notice, we know that the law 
is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this, that the law is 
not made for a righteous person. What's he speaking to? Haven't 
I mentioned the normative use? Aren't I going to end up there 
in a few moments and say that the law is for the Christian? When Jesus prays, sanctify them 
by thy truth, thy word is truth. Part of that truth is the law. 
And the normative use of the law is justified freely by grace 
sinners living empowered by the spirit, obeying that law. Well, 
that's not what Paul has in mind here. Again, not every passage 
where certain words are found deal with every single concept 
connected to those words. Everybody get that? I've been 
accused before and preaching an hour sermon and then person 
saying, well, you didn't mention anything about that. Yeah, it's 
only an hour, and that was probably way too much for most of the 
people that were there anyway. You can't ever get to everything 
all at once. So the apostle is speaking in 
a particular situation. But what does he mean, knowing 
this, that the law is not made for a righteous person? Well, 
in this particular usage, the righteous person means anyone 
living in external conformity to the law, whether Christian 
or non-Christian. I think the best way to sort 
of describe this are counterfeiting laws. That's not made for us, 
right? We're not counterfeiters. I don't 
think any of us are. I've never actually heard anybody 
cop to that one in my time as a pastor, so I use an outlandish 
thing. He's talking about, again, a 
specific situation that was present in Ephesus. He's not dealing 
with a comprehensive catalog of the various and multifaceted 
uses of the law. Rather, he is dealing with one 
particular use, and in this context, it's the civil or the political 
use, wherein the law restrains man. It's given not for the righteous 
person, but for the unrighteous. to restrain them, to give parameters 
to them. Notice he goes to the Ten Commandments. He says, But for the lawless 
and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy 
and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, 
for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, 
for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that 
is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel 
of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. Brethren, 
that is the Decalogue. That's exactly what Paul appeals 
to. George Knight in his commentary 
shows that each of these particular terms answers consistently to 
one of the Ten Commandments. And so the point in this particular 
passage is that the civil use of the law restrains sin. If there were no law, if there 
were no restraint, this would be hell on earth. We think it's 
bad, wait until you, well hopefully none of us will ever see hell, 
but that's going to be the place where there is no restraint over 
the sin of man. So the civil or political use. Second is the pedagogical use, 
the child tutor use. Pedagogue just means that. And 
basically this means the use of the law for the confrontation 
and refutation of sin and for the purpose of pointing the way 
to Christ. In other words, we preach the 
law to sinners so that sinners will see their need for Jesus. 
The Heidelberg Catechism asks the question, how do you know 
your sin and misery? The law of God tells me so. In other words, when I look at 
the Ten Commandments, it ought not to be the case that I pat 
myself on the back for having done such a great job. When we 
look at the Ten Commandments, we should see especially our 
need for the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Matthew's Gospel for 
just a moment, Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter five, we could 
look at any number of passages, but just one of them. Matthew 
chapter five at verse 48. Therefore you shall be perfect 
just as your Father in heaven is perfect. Now typically when 
preachers preach that they try to soften it. It doesn't really 
mean perfect. You know complete or whole. It 
really means perfect. The Sermon on the Mount is law. 
See, when people say, all we need to do is live according 
to the Sermon on the Mount, they're telling you they're rejecting 
the gospel. They want to live by the law. 
Now, the law in the Sermon on the Mount doesn't sound like 
the thundering of Sinai, but it's the thundering of Sinai. 
That's what Jesus is doing. Yes, he's teaching his disciples, 
who are justified freely by his grace, how they're supposed to 
live in terms of the normative function. But he's also addressing 
the multitudes who have drawn Nigel in order to hear the way 
of salvation. So he wants to show them their 
sin and their need for redemption through his blood. So if we hear 
the Sermon on the Mount and it has no gospel, it has no pointing 
to Christ, then we're missing the point. Machen said the Sermon 
on the Mount, rightly interpreted then, makes a man a seeker after 
some divine means of salvation by which entrance into the kingdom 
can be obtained. The Sermon on the Mount, like 
all the rest of the New Testament, really leads a man straight to 
the foot of the cross. This is the pedagogical use of 
the law. Martin Lloyd-Jones saw the same 
thing. He says there is nothing that 
so utterly condemns us as the Sermon on the Mount. There is 
nothing so utterly impossible, so terrifying, and so full of 
doctrine. Indeed, I do not hesitate to 
say that were it not that I knew of the doctrine of justification 
by faith only, I would never look at the Sermon on the Mount 
because it is a sermon before which we all stand completely 
naked and altogether without hope. Now if you're reading the 
Sermon on the Mount and that has not been your experience, 
You're not reading it properly. When he comes to expound the 
sixth commandment, he doesn't just say if you stop somebody's 
heart from beating, you are guilty of the law. No, if you are angry 
or you hate your brother without cause. When he comes to deal 
with the seventh commandment, he's not talking about going 
into your neighbor's wife. He says, if you have lust in 
your heart. Who of us comes from the Sermon 
on the Mount congratulating ourselves? It is a law sermon designed to 
show people the necessity for the Lord Jesus. Turn to Matthew 
chapter 19. Matthew chapter 19, specifically 
at verse 19. 16. Now behold, one came and said 
to him, good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have 
eternal life? So he said to him, why do you 
call me good? No one is good but one, that is God. But if 
you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. He said 
to him, which ones? Jesus said, you shall not murder, 
you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall 
not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother, 
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said 
to him, all these things I have kept from my youth, what do I 
still lack? Jesus said to him, if you want 
to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and 
you will have treasure in heaven and come, follow me. When the 
young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful for he 
had great possessions. What's the point? The guy actually 
deluded himself that he had the second table laws pretty well 
done. Well, he had forgotten the 10th 
commandment. That's why Jesus says, go sell everything you 
have, give it to the poor, and then follow me. That was the 
crushing blow. That was the conviction for sin. 
I think I've told you before, some speculate that's Paul the 
apostle. The older I get, The longer I 
live, the more merit that particular argument has with me. In Romans 
7, the apostle says, I would not have known covetousness, 
or I would not have known lust, unless the law said, you shall 
not covet. Again, I would never die on this 
hill. I wouldn't go to battle for this particular position. 
But it's not a position without merit. Paul's age, Paul's time 
frame, Paul's everything could have been such that he found 
himself in this particular situation. But either way, this is what 
Jesus is doing. He's preaching the law to the 
rich young ruler so that the rich young ruler can appreciate 
his need for blood atonement. And then one final text with 
reference to this one. Romans chapter three, probably 
the clearest in terms of just an absolute statement. Romans 3, we'll summarize at 
verse 19. Now we know that whatever the 
law says, it says to those who are under the law. that every 
mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before 
God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be 
justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge 
of sin." Couldn't be more simple, right? See how Paul does that? 
Whatever context he's in, he speaks with authority. He doesn't 
give every single... Here's how the Reformed is gonna 
understand the law, so I'll go ahead and give you the three 
uses of the law. systematic theology goes through the Bible and calls 
out the teaching of the Bible and puts it into the systematic 
categories, puts it into the various parts of the systematic 
theology. So the apostle tells us, by the 
deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, for 
by the law is the knowledge of sin. So you see if a pastor An 
evangelist says, keep the law and you will be saved. They are 
misusing. They're using the law unlawfully. 
And then persons will say, but that's what Jesus did. He's Jesus. And he was teaching this man 
something about his sin. We don't know what happened after 
that. We don't know the subsequent interactions. We just don't know 
that. For us, we're not supposed to use the law unlawfully, we're 
supposed to use it lawfully. So you've got the civil or political 
use, wherein God restrains the creature from being as wicked 
and perverse as he can be. You have then the pedagogical 
use of the law, which means the law shows sinners their need 
for Jesus. Augustine said, through the law, 
God opens man's eyes so that he sees his helplessness and 
by faith takes refuge to his mercy and is healed. John Bunyan 
made this observation, the man who does not know the nature 
of the law cannot know the nature of sin. And he who does not know 
the nature of sin cannot know the nature of the Savior. I'd 
suggest, brethren, this is one of the reasons for weak and anemic 
preaching out there in terms of the cross, the significance 
of the atonement, the justice and the righteousness of God. 
All of that is greatly reduced when there's no law preaching. 
When ministers of the gospel don't do the work of showing 
sinners their need for redemption through Jesus Christ with the 
use of the law. Without the use of the law, Jesus 
just becomes an accouterment to an already happy life. It's 
not happiness that sinners are seeking, it's righteousness because 
they're unrighteous for having broken God's law and they stand 
and need a blood atonement by our blessed Savior. So the civil, 
the pedagogical, and then the third use of the law is called 
the normative use of the law, the normal use of the law in 
the lives of God's people. Muller again says this pertains 
to believers in Christ who have been saved through faith apart 
from works. In the regenerate life, the law 
no longer functions to condemn, since it no longer stands over 
against man as the unreachable basis for salvation. But it acts 
as a norm of conduct, freely accepted by those in whom the 
grace of God works the good." So in other words, we're justified 
freely by grace, we have a whole new view of the law, don't we? 
We say with David, oh, how I love thy law. John the Apostle says, 
the commandments of God are not burdensome. They're not grievous. We don't look at the law and 
say, oh, what a curse. God actually wants me not to 
murder people. Oh, what a horrible thing. God 
wants me to have a day off and rest in his presence and with 
his people. What a horrible, no, that's not 
it at all. The Christian, the regenerate 
heart now loves the law of God. Again, Augustine said the law 
was given in order that we might seek grace. Grace was given in 
order that we might fulfill the law. It is a blessed situation. Francis Turretin says, before 
it, law was an instrument of the spirit of bondage to throw 
down and bruise men. But afterwards, it becomes the 
instrument of the spirit of adoption to promote sanctification. Thus 
the law leads to Christ and Christ leads us back to the law. It 
leads to Christ as the Redeemer and Christ leads to the law as 
the leader and director of life. It is a blessed situation. We're not justified by the law, 
but rather we're justified by grace through faith once we've 
been saved, once we've been converted, once we've laid hold of the Lord 
Jesus. Jesus says this is the law, this 
is the pattern of what sanctification looks like. It's a blessed thing. 
We don't have to try to figure out what pleases God. What pleases 
God is that you have no other gods before Him. What pleases 
God is that you don't curse His name. What pleases God is that 
you keep His day holy. You're subordinate to lawful 
authority. You don't murder people. You don't commit adultery with 
people. You don't steal from people. You don't lie about people. 
You don't covet other people's stuff. We're not left to wonder, 
what is it that pleases God? God has spelled it out for us. 
He has revealed it to us, and it is for our benefit. Now, in 
terms of validating this particular use, go to Matthew 5. Matthew 
chapter 5. Before we get to the heavy hitting 
with reference to the specifics of the law, Jesus gives his hermeneutics 
of the law in chapter 5, verses 17 to 20. He says, do not think 
that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come 
to destroy, but to fulfill. I think the whole point of the 
Sermon on the Mount and this introduction in terms of hermeneutics 
is because of the word that was out about it. Right? Jesus goes 
out and he starts to preach and he starts to teach and the multitudes 
all want to come and they want to hear him. Well, the religious 
leaders are upset by this. The religious leaders are wondering, 
what is this man doing? I mean, remember on Sunday morning, 
I'd mentioned in John 4, Jesus had heard that the Pharisees 
knew that he had baptized more disciples than John the Baptist. 
It wasn't just theology that provided a rift between Jesus 
and the Pharisees and the religious leaders. It was politics. These 
men were threatened. If this upstart comes and all 
the multitudes follow him, then they're not going to want us. 
So Jesus lays down his hermeneutics relative to the law of Moses 
in Matthew's gospel. 5, 17 to 20, hermeneutical principles, 
and then from 521 and following, he applies that law. And he doesn't 
do it even more so than Moses ever did, but he is simply expounding 
Moses to show them his consistency in terms of old covenant law. 
So back to verse 17, do not think that I came to destroy the law 
of the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For 
assuredly, I say to you, and fulfill there doesn't mean I 
fulfill it. Therefore, all those in me don't 
have to do it. People do that with the Sabbath. 
Oh, Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath. So our rest is in Jesus. So we 
can do whatever we want on Sunday. Funny we don't apply that with 
adultery or with murder. Didn't Jesus fulfill not murdering 
people? So I guess under the law of Sabbath, 
correspondingly, we can go out and kill people? Nobody argues 
that way because it's absolute insanity. But back to the passage, 
when he says fulfill, it's not just he fulfills it in terms 
of his life of obedience, but he confirms it. He shows it's 
a validity for us. Verse 18, for assuredly I say 
to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle 
will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Notice, 
whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments 
and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of 
heaven. This is against antinomians. But whoever does and teaches 
them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. That's 
the guy who takes it properly. And then he condemns legalism 
in verse 20. For I say to you that unless your righteousness 
exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you 
will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. And there again, I 
think he's underscoring the necessity for blood atonement. But notice, 
he's not saying, unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness 
of Moses and his law. It's the scribes and the Pharisees 
that Jesus is specifically targeting here. Remember, that they weren't 
just innocent, innocuous people that were seeking truth. No, 
they wanted to murder Jesus. Not at this point, perhaps. but 
not very far down the road, they're going to want to murder him. 
So 517 to 20 is crucial in terms of Jesus and his hermeneutics 
concerning the law. Turn to Romans chapter 3. Romans 
chapter 3, underscoring the normative use, that once we come to the 
Savior by grace through faith, that does not mean that the law 
has no place in the life of the believer. The law has the place 
in terms of the normative use. Notice, right as he's beginning 
to establish justification by faith alone, and he's going to 
develop it more fully in chapter 4, look at what he says in verse 
31, chapter 3, Romans 3, 31. Do we then make void the law 
through faith? Certainly not. On the contrary, 
we establish the law. And then look at Romans chapter 
7. Romans 7.7, what shall we say then, is the law sin? Certainly 
not, on the contrary, I would not have known sin except through 
the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the 
law had said, you shall not covet. Drop down to verse 12, therefore 
the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good. Paul's 
argument here is that there's nothing wrong with the law, there's 
everything wrong with your heart. It's never a problem with the 
law of God. It's always a problem with the 
sinner and his approach to the law of God. But in terms of a 
concrete application of the normative use of the law, look at Romans 
13. Just giving you some of the pro-law statements along the 
way. But notice in Romans 13 at verse 
8. Again, God is good. What's it 
mean to be the sanctified Christian relative to God? Well, don't 
be an idolater, don't be a blasphemer, don't be a Sabbath breaker, don't 
be insubordinate to governing authority, don't be a murderer, 
don't be adulterous. So he spells it out, right? Well, 
he does that in terms of our interpersonal relations as well. 
What's it mean to love the brethren? Does that mean I need to bring 
flowers to the brethren? Does that mean I need to take 
the brethren out for coffee? Certainly that could be an application. 
But look at how Paul quantifies what love to the brethren is. 
He goes to the Decalogue. He goes to the Ten Commandments, 
Romans 13, 8. Love's not nebulous. It's not 
undefined. It's not just some sort of an 
oozy-goozy feeling. Love is objective obedience to 
revealed statutes. Now that doesn't sound romantic 
when you take your wife out and you say, honey, I'm engaged in 
this transaction because I love you and this is just evident. 
That's going to not woo her. But in terms of the undergirding 
principle, look at what he says. Love, accept to love one another 
for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Now notice 
verse nine. For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, 
you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear 
false witness, you shall not covet. And if there is any other 
commandment are all summed up in this saying, namely, you shall 
love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor, 
therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Again, we don't typically 
operate that way. Here's how my love to you is 
best expressed. I haven't coveted your ox. I 
haven't lain with your, you know, spouse. I haven't stolen your... 
We don't look at it that way. But that's what it is, brethren. 
We're not left to guess and wonder and scratch our heads. And this 
is a wonderful concrete way to see what it looks like to relate 
one to another. Look at Ephesians chapter 6. 
Ephesians chapter 6 verse 1. Children obey your parents in 
the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother 
which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well 
with you and you may live long It's a beautiful thing, isn't 
it? It's not undefinable, it's not 
up for grabs, it's not, I wonder what would be the way to love 
somebody. No, it's pretty spelled out. 
Again, you can throw in the romance, you can throw in all the emotion 
and all the feeling and all that sort of stuff, but without that 
foundation of objectively keeping the commandments of God toward 
one another, all the romance and all that other stuff really 
doesn't matter. If we don't have that response in our heart to 
our fellows, then we're not loving them the way that God defines 
love. Again, 1 Corinthians chapter 
13, it's not nebulous, it's not undefined, it's not just feeling 
and sentiment, it's concrete, it's objective, it's tangible, 
it's demonstrable, it's stuff you can see and touch and feel 
and hold and all that sort of thing. And then finally, the 
uniqueness of the decalogue. I'm gonna have to run through 
this, but the uniqueness of the decalogue is seen in the threefold 
division of the law. When it comes to the law, think 
of three uses and a threefold division. Three is a good number 
in the Bible. So a threefold use, if I were 
to ask you, you'd say civil use, you'd say pedagogical use, and 
you'd say normative use. Well, there is a threefold division 
of the law. And the fact that the moral law 
alone abides, underscores the uniqueness of it. Not that the 
ceremonial and not that the judicial were not unique in their own 
right, but in terms of the abiding validity of the moral law, that 
underscores the uniqueness of it. So we have the moral law 
of God, which is the Decalogue, which is the Ten Commandments. 
Israel was also given something called the ceremonial law. Our 
Confession of Faith describes it this way. Besides this law, 
talking about the moral law or the Ten Commandments, besides 
the moral law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give 
to the people of Israel ceremonial laws containing several typical 
ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, His graces, 
actions, sufferings, and benefits, and partly holding forth diverse 
instructions of moral duties, all which ceremonial laws, being 
appointed only to the time of Reformation, the new covenant, 
not the 16th century, are by Jesus Christ the true Messiah 
and only Lawgiver, who was furnished with power from the Father, for 
that end abrogated and taken away. So Christ does fulfill 
the ceremonies so that they're no longer binding on us. They 
functioned in a way to keep the nation of Israel distinct from 
all the pagans around them, but as well, like the Confession 
says, they prefigured Christ. The sacrifice is associated with 
the Levitical priesthood. We don't continue in that train. We don't continue down that path. The use of incense, the temple, 
the central sanctuary of Deuteronomy 12. We get back to that lady 
in Samaria on Sunday morning in John 4. She asks about which 
mountain do we worship on? Which is the authorized location? 
Well, that's a question that has context, namely Deuteronomy 
chapter 12. Israel was not left to go hankering 
after God wherever they wanted. They were bound to come to the 
central sanctuary insofar as they could because God was dealing 
with a carnal people. If He didn't bring them to that 
central sanctuary, they'd go with their buddy to the bail 
service. They would go with their buddy to Asherah. They would 
go with somebody else and sin against God. So there was a ceremonial 
law in place, as the Confession says, until the time of Reformation, 
when Jesus comes and He fulfills that. And then there was what 
was called the judicial law. And as that might suggest, judicial 
law had to do with laws governing the body politic, the Commonwealth 
of Israel, while they lived in the land. Okay, so the judicial 
law. Once we finish with Exodus 20, 
you've got the Ten Commandments, the Ten Words, the Decalogue, 
Ten General Principles. Well then, beginning in chapter 
21 at verse 1 and following, you see those general principles 
applied concretely in society. So it's a case law application 
of how to use these general principles in day-to-day life in society. Our confession again with reference 
to the judicial law. To them also he gave sundry judicial 
laws, which expired together with the state of that people, 
not obliging any now by virtue of that institution, their general 
equity only being of moral use. So what that means is that the 
nation of Israel was a theocracy. Yes, they had a monarchy, but 
it was God who ruled the people directly. And with reference 
to that body politic, as the Confession says, the laws which 
governed their tenure in the land ceased to function in that 
capacity when they were ejected from the land. so they don't 
bind America or Canada in the same exact fashion. That's why 
when people apply certain Bible texts that were unique to Covenant 
Israel to America, that's not good hermeneutics, brethren. 
I mean, it's good patriotism and it might make us want to, 
you know, wave a flag, but we have to be very careful. There 
is not a direct parallel between Old Covenant Israel and America. I'm not saying Canada, because 
I don't typically hear it in Canada, but you hear it a lot 
in America, that America is the extension of Old Covenant Israel 
and God shed his grace on thee. Now, I'm not disputing that. God has shed his grace on her 
in a whole host of ways, but it is not a directly parallel 
situation. And you have to understand that. If you don't understand that, 
you're gonna have problems when you read the Old Testament. But 
with reference to the judicial law, this last statement in our 
confession is most excellent. Their general equity only being 
of moral use. So in other words, if the wisdom 
of the law is discernible and applicable, we can do that. For instance, when we move through 
that legislation, there is a demand, a requirement that you put a 
fence on your roof. Typically the roof was flat and 
it was additional living space. Well, you needed to have a fence 
up there, why? So people wouldn't fall off and 
break their necks, because that would violate the spirit of the 
Sixth Commandment. Now, you may not have pushed 
them, but negligence could also, well, negligence does fall under 
the Sixth Commandment. So you could put a fence up there. 
So boy, it wouldn't be great if we had some general equity 
principle. We do. When you have a swimming pool, 
you should put a fence around it because if you're negligent 
and somebody drowns in that, you should be criminally responsible 
for that. That's the way I understand this 
general equity principle. So when we look at those case 
laws as we move through, There's going to be things that are specific 
to an agrarian society that may not obtain. There may be things 
specifically connected to the cultic system. And by cultic 
there, I don't mean Jehovah's Witness. Cultist simply refers 
to the religious observations of a body. So there's going to 
be things connected with the cult that aren't transferable 
to us. But principles like that are 
the goring ox. The goring ox is fantastic. I 
mean, if your ox gets out and gores somebody, you may be criminally 
liable up to and including the death penalty. If you knew that 
your ox had a predilection to goring and you let him out, you 
were in trouble, big, big trouble. I think there's a whole host 
of application to that with reference to drunk driving, with reference 
to a whole host of things where criminal negligence is obvious. 
So when we move to the judicial law and we think about what the 
confession and reform theology as a whole, this isn't unique 
to the Baptists. They just didn't like the judicial law. No, that 
wasn't it at all. But there isn't that direct, 
absolute parallel between old covenant, Commonwealth of Israel, 
theocratic people in the land that there is today with Canada. 
It's just not the same. But in terms of the general equity 
of the judicial law, there is valid warrant for us to use the 
law of God in society today. Listen to John Gill. John Gill 
was one of our Baptist predecessors. He said this concerning the judicial 
law. I cannot but be of opinion that 
a digest of civil laws might be made out of the Bible, the 
law of the Lord that is perfect, either as lying and express words 
in it, or to be deduced by the analogy of things and cases, 
and by just consequence, as would be sufficient for the government 
of any nation. And then there would be no need 
of so many law books, nor of so many lawyers, and perhaps 
there would be fewer lawsuits. Wouldn't that be wonderful? However, 
we Christians, under whatsoever government we are, are directed 
to submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, and 
for conscience' sake, even to everyone that is not contrary 
to common sense and reason, and to religion and conscience." 
So he's saying, Wherever Christians happen to live, whatever commonwealth 
they find themselves under, Romans 13 applies. Be subordinate to 
the civil authority. He's saying if governments actually 
put into practice the judicial code of Moses, they wouldn't 
be hurt for it. How many laws do you think there 
are in the Old Testament? Does anybody know the number? 
Not just the 10. 613. Remember the 2? They summarize 
the 10. 2, and then the 10, and then 
601 more. So 613. 613. There's probably more than 
613 for us to walk from Korbold over to the hospital. You know, you can't spit on the 
sidewalk. Not all of them are bad, necessarily. There's laws 
for every... I couldn't even imagine what 
the laws governing the nation of Canada would look like. I 
can't even visualize. I can't conceptualize. 613 is 
chump change. These guys are pumping out laws 
all the time. But if those things were applied, 
listen to what Gill says here. He said there would be no need 
of so many law books, nor of so many lawyers, and perhaps 
there would be fewer lawsuits. Here's what Martin Luther said. 
Now, if you know anything about the history of theology, Luther 
has been viewed as an antinomian. He wasn't, but he's been viewed 
as an antinomian. Again, he wasn't. He held to 
the normative use of the law, but he focused on the pedagogical 
use of the law. Which shouldn't surprise us, 
because what was Luther's big concern? Justification by faith 
alone. So how do you think Luther's 
going to employ the law? He's going to employ it in all of 
its killing power so that sinners see their need for justification 
by faith alone. Makes sense, right? That's his 
shtick. But Luther said this in his commentary on Galatians. He says, nor would it be a sin 
if the emperor used some of the civil laws of Moses. In fact, 
it would be a good idea if he did. Therefore, the sophists 
are in error when they imagine that after Christ, the civil 
laws of Moses are fatal to us. The history of theology, some 
have said, oh, the judicial laws are so terrible, don't have anything 
to do with them. No, that's not the way the Reformed 
have treated it. That's not the way the Confessions 
treated it. The judicial law served a particular function 
for the Commonwealth of Israel. Now that the Commonwealth of 
Israel is that theocratic body politic is no more, the argument 
goes that the judicial law doesn't continue. Just as they don't. But the general equity of it 
is binding for us today. And the reformed have touched 
on how we know what to apply and how to apply it. I think 
it's brilliant. So we've got the threefold division of the 
law where in the moral law continues to abide. Ceremonial, judicial, 
no longer abiding in the way that the moral law. And then 
you've got the moral law and the finger of God. There are 
several places in the Old Testament where it says that the Ten Commandments 
were written by the finger of God. It's quite intriguing. I 
mean, all the law was given to him. But again, Moses didn't, 
you know, make up the prohibition against eating jackdaw. He didn't 
just get, you know, that, hey, I don't think anybody should 
eat a jackdaw or something like that. No, no, no. God gave him 
that. But when it comes to the Decalogue of the Ten Commandments, 
it's written with the finger of God. And then the moral law 
is placed in the Ark of the Covenant. And it's, again, not, you know, 
we talk about the two tables of the law. By that, we mean 
our duties toward man, or God, and then our duties toward man. 
So you've got the first four commandments, what we do relative 
to God, the latter six commandments, what we do relative to man. And 
I think we have the common perception is that the four are here and 
the six are here. They both contain the ten. They 
both were copies. One was the copy of the Lord, 
the suzerain, and the other copy was the vassal, or the subordinate. 
And they're both kept in the Ark of the Testimony so that 
they are there for safekeeping, and for an abiding documentary 
evidence that Israel is in covenant with Yahweh of Israel. Well, that is our conclusion, 
and we made it just in time. So I'm going to pray, and then 
if anybody has any questions, we can deal with that. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for your law. We thank you for the book 
of Exodus and for the entirety of scripture and how the Bible 
presents the law of God to us. We know it's holy. We know it's 
good. It's a revelation of your perfections. And I pray that 
we would think properly with it and that we would use it lawfully 
the way we ought. And we ask this through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. Amen. Any questions?