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1 Timothy 1. I'll read the first 
11 verses. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ 
by the commandment of God our Saviour and the Lord Jesus Christ 
our hope. To Timothy, a true son in the 
faith. Grace, mercy and peace from God 
our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. 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. 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, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither 
what they say nor the things which they affirm. But we know 
that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this, that 
the law is not made for a righteous person, 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. Amen. Let us pray. Our Holy Father, 
we come before Your throne now and we pray for the ministry 
of Your Spirit to be upon each one of us. We praise You, God, 
that You have not left us as orphans in this world, but Jesus 
has sent another Comforter, one just like Himself. And we just 
pray for his aid and for his guidance and for direction now. 
We study your holy word. We ask that you would forgive 
us and cleanse us from all sin and transgression. And we thank 
you for that wonderful passage that our brother read at the 
outset of worship. We live in those days prophesied 
by Zechariah where there's a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. 
Certainly, our God, we have been found out very often in our sin, 
and we just thank You that Jesus has washed us, has purified us, 
has justified us, sanctified us, and will ultimately glorify 
us. God, we give You praise that He is the author and the finisher 
of our faith. We just pray even now that You 
would give us grace to take every thought captive to the obedience 
of Christ. We ask in His blessed name, Amen. Well, next Sunday is Sanctity 
of Life Sunday. And instead of getting into Colossians 
this morning, taking next Sunday away from Colossians, I thought 
we'd preach a sermon on God's law this morning and then do 
a bit of detailed study with specific reference to the sin 
or crime of abortion next Sunday morning to remember that Sanctity 
of Life Sunday. But I am convinced that the church 
and that Christians need to have a proper and a biblical understanding 
of God's law if we are to oppose this particular sin or this particular 
crime. Not only abortion, but euthanasia 
or any of the various tragic crimes that go on unchecked in 
our own day and age. So, I want to look at the lawful 
uses of God's law. The Apostle here says we know 
that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, which argues that 
there are unlawful uses and there are lawful uses. He doesn't treat 
all of the lawful uses in this particular section. As Calvin 
said, the apostle did not intend to argue about the whole office 
of the law, but views it in reference to men. So while we'll look at 
this passage with reference to the first use of God's law, we'll 
look at some other portions of Scripture to look at the second 
and the third use of the law. Now this is nothing novel or 
nothing new. This is simply a reformed understanding, 
a historically reformed understanding of the threefold use of God's 
law. And traditionally those uses 
have been explained first as the civil use. And I believe 
that's the way the Apostle is using it here in 1 Timothy chapter 
1. The civil use or the political 
use, which basically means that the law is to serve the commonwealth 
or body politic as a force for the restraint of sin. The law 
cannot make men good, but it can certainly restrain bad men. And that is one of the effects 
or one of the functions of God's law. The second is a big word, 
kids, which I will define as pedagogical. Or we might say 
a tutorial use. The law of God is our tutor. The law of God shows us our sin. And the law of God points us 
to the Redeemer King, even the Lord Jesus Christ, for cleansing 
through His precious blood. That's the second use, and we'll 
see that in a bit more detail in just a few minutes. And then 
the third use is what's called the normative use. The normative 
simply means that after Christ saves us by grace alone, through 
faith alone, by His own precious blood, once we have been saved, 
He then points us to His law as a pattern for our Christian 
life. He points us to the law as that reflection of God's holiness 
and goodness and those things that are to define our conduct 
as Christian men and women. I heartily agree with John Bunyan 
who said, 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. So these 
things go hand in hand. When we minimize the law, we 
will most certainly minimize the glory of the Redeemer Christ. And so it is incumbent upon us 
to have a biblical mindset with reference to this very important 
issue of God's law. Well, notice first of all, with 
reference to the civil use. Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus. There was a problem in the church 
in Ephesus, which Paul had already said would occur. In Acts 20, 
when he is in Miletus, he charges the Ephesian elders. And he said, 
for I know this. that after my departure from 
among you, savage wolves will arise, seeking to make disciples 
of themselves. And so what we have here is a 
problem at Ephesus, so Paul stations Timothy there. And part of the 
problem was these men fancied themselves as teachers of the 
law. They wanted to be men in the 
pulpit who would instruct others concerning the law. Verse 7, 
Paul says that, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding 
neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. I'll 
just say, before we get any further, it's good to preach because it's 
very cold in this room this morning. And I'm starting to finally warm 
up a bit. So I sympathize with you. I understand it's chilly out 
there. But God willing, with your hearing ears on, that'll 
get your atoms moving so that you'll warm up in no time at 
all. But there are false teachers 
of the law. So what Paul is going to do is 
set forth a proper use or a proper understanding of the law. He 
is not anti-law. He is not what theologians have 
called antinomian, which means to be against the law. Paul affirms 
the law. He is not against law. He is against bad teachers of 
the law. And that's what leads him to 
say, we know that the law is good. And of course, the rest 
of the Bible highlights this. for us in his argument about 
justification by faith. Paul asks in Romans 3.31, what 
then? Do we nullify or abrogate or 
get rid of the law? No, but rather we establish the 
law. Paul says in Romans 7 that the 
law is holy. The commandment is just. It is 
good. The problem has never been God's 
law. The problem has always been man's 
heart. He goes on to highlight this 
qualification, if one uses it lawfully. God gave His law to 
be used in specific ways. We are not to use law to be justified. We'll see that in just a moment. 
But we're not to just leave this room today. Perhaps you're here 
and you're not a Christian. And you're hearing about Jesus 
and you're hearing about God and it would be a good thing 
to serve the Lord and to be saved and not go to hell. Well, the 
thought is, is not to leave from this place saying, well, I know, 
I'll just start doing better. I'll just start doing good. I'll 
just seek self-justification. You cannot do that. There is 
no one who will be saved by law keeping. It is only by the grace 
of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus, that we are saved. And we have to have a proper 
understanding of that. The law is not good if one uses 
it unlawfully. If you are seeking to justify 
yourself with the law of God, you're not using it properly. 
You're using a hammer to put butter on your toast. You're 
using a toaster to dry your hair if you're a woman. You're taking 
something that has a legitimate application in one area and you're 
trying to use it to do something it was never intended to do. 
That's why it's important that we understand the relationship 
with reference to the Law and the Gospel. Paul goes on to say 
this. He says, knowing this, that the 
Law is not made for a righteous person. He says this in verse 
9. Some have taken this and said, 
well, we as Christians are now righteous persons, so therefore 
we don't have any duty with reference to the Law. That's not what Paul 
is meaning here. I mean, if he is, then he's certainly 
undone it in the rest of the New Testament, because Paul is 
very pro-law. I think the idea here is that 
the righteous person means anyone living in external conformity 
to the law, whether they're Christians or non-Christians. The law defines 
proper behavior and rebukes those not in conformity to it. It is 
not for the righteous person, for such a person is already 
conforming to it. The best illustration I can use 
is counterfeiters. Because as far as I know, none 
of us are counterfeiters. I don't think you're at home 
and you have a factory in your basement where you are trying 
to counterfeit Canadian currency. I think there's a lot of sins 
that we're all guilty of, but counterfeiting probably is not 
yours. You don't have a mint in your 
basement and you're trying to stamp out loonies. Well, there 
is a law prohibiting counterfeiting. It's not for us, because we don't 
break that particular law. There's no effect upon us. It's 
not made for a non-counterfeiter. It's made for the counterfeiter. 
It's made for the violator. The civil use of God's law is 
in place, again, to restrain the heartless. It's not in place 
to promote heart within the people. It is rather to restrain lawlessness 
and wickedness. Those things are there so that 
men will fear. A good analogy is in Romans 13, 
3, where the Christian is commanded to subordinate himself to the 
governing authority. And he goes on to say, if you 
do what's right, you don't have anything to worry about. But 
if you do what's wrong, you should be afraid, because the magistrate 
has been given the sword by God to execute criminal offenders. 
So when Paul here says that the law was not made for a righteous 
person, he is simply highlighting what I believe is the civil use. And it's interesting that he 
then cites the Ten Commandments. He then cites the Mosaic Law. He cites what we call the Decalogue 
in his unfolding of what the law is. But for the lawless and 
insubordinate, for the ungodly and 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." That is a summary statement of all 
ten words from Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. So the civil use 
is simply that use of the law according to which the law serves 
the commonwealth or body politic as a force for the restraint 
of sin. The second use is the tutorial 
or pedagogical. A tutor is simply this. Let's 
say you're doing miserably in math. You have a teacher, a tutor, 
one who comes alongside of you and instructs you on how to do 
better in math. Maybe Mr. Gilmore wants to give 
up his time and make sure that you can master seventh grade 
math. So he's going to sit with you 
and be your tutor to lead you to a proper understanding of 
mathematics and its application. The law does that. The law shows 
us our failures. The law shows us that we have 
all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The law shows 
us that we are powerless to save ourselves. The law, the breathing 
of God through Sinai, condemns. And in that condemnation then 
sets forth or at least directs us or pushes us toward the glory 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The use of the law for the confrontation 
and refutation of sin for the purpose of pointing the way to 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 3, verse 20, Paul summarizes 
his declaration that all men everywhere are guilty before 
God. He says, therefore, by the deeds 
of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight. And then he says, for by the 
law is the knowledge of sin. The law shows us our sin. The law exposes. The law is like 
that lance in the hand of the doctor that begins to probe and 
show the problem. The law does that. It exposes. Galatians 3 and verse 24, we 
read, Therefore, the law was our tutor. This is where we get 
the word pedagogue. The law was our tutor to bring 
us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. And then the Westminster Larger 
Catechism asks, what particular use is either of the moral law 
to unregenerate men? In other words, what use is preaching 
the law to the unregenerate? It says the moral law of God 
is of use to unregenerate men to awaken their consciences. 
You see, we need to preach the law of God because sinners are 
asleep. Sinners being dead in their trespasses 
and sins don't gravitate toward the light. So we need to find 
them out and we need to use God's law to blast them out of their 
hiding places. It goes on to say, to awaken 
their consciences to flee from wrath to come and to drive them 
to Christ. or upon their continuance in 
the estate and way of sin, to leave them inexcusable and under 
the curse thereof." The law of God, brethren, is absolutely 
crucial for the church in its evangelism. A perfect example is the rich young 
ruler. What's Jesus' word to that young man in Matthew 19? 
You may turn there. Just because I think there's 
a whole host of misunderstanding about what Jesus does in Matthew 
19. Matthew 19 at verse 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. 
Oh, Jesus is teaching law keeping for salvation. No, he's not. 
Jesus is using the law as a schoolmaster. Jesus is using the law as a tutor. Jesus is using the law as a pedagogue. Jesus is highlighting the man's 
sin. Notice. He said to him, verse 
18, 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. 
So basically, the young man prided himself on his law-keeping ability. Jesus takes the 9th commandment, 
or rather the 10th commandment, to expose him. Go get rid of 
everything. Get rid of everything and follow 
me. You mean, not just believe on you, Jesus? No, he's exposing 
his sin. If what Jesus taught here is 
the way of salvation, then monks are saved. Right? Just go sell everything 
you have. You'll be saved. That's not what 
Jesus is doing. He's highlighting His sin. He's exposing. You think you've 
kept the law. You think you've been pretty 
good. You think you have satisfied 
the righteous requirements of God. And incidentally, brethren, 
go out on the street sometime and start asking people. They 
all think they've satisfied the righteous requirements of God. Oh, I've never killed anyone, 
never done any really big bad thing. Jesus exposes covetousness. This man loved his stuff more 
than he wanted Jesus Christ. That's what Christ is doing here 
in exposing Him, in showing the fact that He is a sinner, that 
He has fallen short of the glory of God, and that He stands in 
need of grace. Paul in Romans chapter 7 highlights 
something of his own experience. He says in verse 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. See, the church in many 
respects is preaching Jesus to a people who have no understanding 
whatsoever of their need for Jesus. We come along to people 
that are making half a million dollars a year, that have done 
very well in the stock market, that have all the cars and all 
the toys that they could ever want. And the church comes and 
says, you know, accept Jesus into your heart for a better 
life. What? I have a pretty good life. Why 
would I want Jesus? I'm making six figures. I do 
whatever I want to do. And the church has come and said, 
add Jesus to your already happy life for even more. See, the church should come along 
and say, you are a lawbreaker. You have violated the God of 
heaven and earth. He has said, do not. You've done 
it. He has said, do this. And you 
haven't. You have violated, you have trampled upon His law, and 
you stand justly under His condemnation. It is righteous and just and 
holy with God to throw you into hell for all eternity. However, 
there is good news. There is a champion. There is 
a Savior. There is a deliverer. There is 
a Lord who came and who did not trample the law of God, but rather 
fulfilled it. Kept it. Loved it. Confirmed 
it. Held it up. Enjoyed it. Said 
of the Father, said of Himself, it is my joy to do Your will. And He died for sinners and rose 
again. And all those who believe in 
Him will have everlasting life. You see, this aspect of Gospel 
preaching is gone. We're trying to convince happy 
men to be happier. Like great comfort says, we want 
them to be happy. We don't preach how to be righteous. 
We don't need happiness. We really don't. You may think 
you do. You may like it. I like it. I 
don't like unhappiness. I think it's psychologically 
impossible. Say, I love unhappiness. Boy, it's great. Even people 
like me, my wife says I'm like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. 
You know, the black cloud is right there. Everything is bleak 
and dark. Sunny day. We don't like that. We like happiness. On the Day 
of Judgment, it is not a matter of our happiness. It is righteousness. It is obedience to God that we 
have not done, that Christ did, that through the blessed truth 
of imputation can be ours by grace through faith. You see, 
the law of God needs to be proclaimed. The apostolic example. What did Peter do in his early 
preaching in the book of Acts? He highlighted the culpability, 
the responsibility, the sinful nastiness of unbelieving Israel 
in murdering Jesus Christ. Not because Peter was an anti-Semite, 
but because Peter feared God and he loved men and he wanted 
them to go to heaven. So He took that sin of which 
they were guilty and screwed it into their consciences such 
that the Spirit worked. And they cried out, men and brethren, 
what must we do? And they would point them to 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Brethren, you strip the law away. 
You do not preach Sinai. No one sees the need for Calvary. And then the third use is the 
normative. These definitions, by the way, 
come from Richard Muller's Dictionary of Theological Latin and Greek. The normative use, 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 acts as a norm of conduct freely accepted by those in whom 
the grace of God works the good. In other words, when you are 
saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus, you come to 
these commandments and you're not like, oh, that's horrible. You're like, oh God, give me 
more of a love. Give me something of the psalmist 
who said, oh, how I delight in my law. It is my meditation day 
and night. Give me something of that Pauline 
earnestness with reference to the glory of Your Law. Our London 
Baptist Confession of Faith says neither are the aforementioned 
uses of the Law contrary to the grace of the Gospel, but do sweetly 
comply with it, the Spirit of Christ subduing and enabling 
the will of man to do that freely and cheerfully which the will 
of God revealed in the Law requires to be done. God doesn't call 
us kicking and screaming to not go out and commit adultery. We 
want to. One of the better expositions 
of the Ten Commandments I read is called The Christian Way of 
Life. And what this author does after 
expounding each commandment, he points out the liberty in 
the command. The liberty in the command. So 
we look at commands as this restrictive, horrific thing. Take the guy 
who's addicted to alcohol, or crystal meth, or cocaine. Take 
the guy who is a slave to a chemical. Free him by the grace of God. 
Wash him in the blood of Jesus. And have the Lord say, I am the 
Lord your God, who brought you out of bondage. You shall have 
no other gods before me. He says, yea, amen. I was a slave 
to that stuff that was killing me. Now I'm a slave to my God. There's liberty in the commandment. Blessed joy! You show me the 
Christian that thinks the commandments are burdensome. I'll send him 
to Jesus who said, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. 
I love what John Murray says, it is symptomatic of a pattern 
of thought, current in many evangelical circles, that the idea of keeping 
the commandments of God is not consonant with the liberty and 
spontaneity of the Christian man. That keeping the law has 
its affinities with legalism and with the principle of works, 
rather than with the principle of grace. It is strange indeed 
that this kind of antipathy to the notion of keeping commandments 
should be entertained by any believer who is a serious student 
of the New Testament. Did not our Lord say, if you 
love me, you will keep my commandments? It's a strange thing indeed to 
find the church confessing or saying that the keeping of the 
law is not good, He says, that's not consistent with any believer 
who is a serious student of the New Testament. Yet we have whole 
factions of evangelicalism today. It would probably be very uncomfortable 
in a sermon like this. Ooh, the law. That's sad. We have fallen a long way from 
our Puritan and Reformed forefathers. Remember, if you use the law 
unlawfully, it's bad. The law as a means of justification 
is bad. The law as a pattern for the 
Christian life is good and should be embraced by God's people. Paul does this in Romans 13. Oh, no one except love. What's love? Don't murder. Don't 
commit adultery. Don't steal. Don't covet. That's 
love. Love isn't a feeling. It's not 
a mystery. I feel like I love you. No, you 
love me because you haven't taken my wife. You haven't taken my 
gold. You haven't put a knife in my 
back. Now, obviously, we should do 
it with sweetness and kindness and smiles and all those sorts 
of things as well. Love is objectively measured. The Old Testament prophesied 
the role of law in the New Covenant. Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36. What 
does God do in the New Covenant? I will write my law on their 
hearts. God's pro-law. God puts it in 
our hearts. Takes it from those tables in 
the Old Covenant to the heart in the New Covenant. He internalizes 
it. He gives us a desire for it. 
He gives us His Spirit. It's New Testament confirmation. Jesus says, do not think that 
I came to abolish the law. I didn't come to abolish it. 
I came to fulfill it. I came to confirm it or establish 
it. In Ephesians chapter 6, Paul, 
writing to a predominantly Gentile church, takes the fifth commandment 
and puts it upon Gentile believers. There's no antipathy to the law. 
There's no, oh, we can't have the law. John himself said, the 
commandments are not burdensome. They're not grievous. If you've 
got a problem with the law, you've got a problem with God. The specifics with reference 
to the normative use of God's law. It defines sin. It defines our conduct for us. We are told in 1 Peter 1, verse 
16, which is a quote from Leviticus 11, to be holy as I am holy. Not I, Jim Butler, but as God 
is holy. Well, does God just say, okay, 
now you figure out what holiness is. You figure out what that 
looks like. No. We don't figure out things 
very well. I don't know if you've noticed 
that. We have a tough time figuring out things, let alone what's 
pleasing to God. The Law defines it for us. The 
Law shows us. The Law is the revelation of 
the character of God. The Law, with reference to the 
Christian convict, I know that maybe this is foreign to some 
of y'all here, but as Christians, sometimes, sometimes, some of 
us start to go astray. We do. It's unfortunate, but 
we do. And blessed be God that He has given us His Word so that 
when we read, we say, you know, I have been neglecting. I have 
been negligent. I have been slothful. I have 
been lazy. I've been indifferent. God, forgive me. That law and 
its normative use convicts, shows us where we have gone astray. 
The law of God with reference to the normative use is our guide. 
Our guide. 2 Timothy 3.16 is a wonderful 
statement of how God's law functions with reference to the believer. 
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for 
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness 
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every 
good work." Scripture guides us. It directs us. It shines 
a light upon our path. We need this. We need this desperately. And then with reference to the 
normative use, I hope that the law functions in your life to 
promote the glory of Jesus. In other words, when we look 
at that perfect revelation of God's law, and we see how far 
short we fall, hopefully we rejoice in our Savior. Hopefully we'll 
rejoice that there is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. 
That when we consider the mess we made of our lives prior to 
our conversion, and the mess we make daily as converted Men 
and women, we will appreciate afresh each and every day the 
glory of the crosswork of Jesus Christ. We will sing with Newton. Let us love and sing and wonder. Let us praise the Savior's name. He has hushed the law's loud 
thunder. He has quenched Mount Sinai's 
flame. He has washed us with His blood. 
He has brought us nigh to God. When we look at that perfect 
reflection of God and we see how far short we fall, let us 
love and sing and wonder. Let us praise the Savior. Let 
us adore Christ, that One who knew no sin was made sin for 
us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 
Brethren, the glory of the Gospel is absolutely magnificent. And 
when you strip the law away from a proper understanding, it loses 
something of its luster. Jesus didn't come to hush the 
law's loud thunder. He just came to make us a little 
bit better and a little bit happier. Never may it be. Well, brethren, 
I believe this threefold understanding of God's law is crucial in our 
own day and age. First of all, because of the 
prevalence of antinomianism, an anti-law mentality that is 
rampant not only in the world, a la abortion, I just read where 
the statistics for abortion have decreased in Canada. Instead 
of being over 100,000 babies per year, now it's 98,000. 98,000 human beings murdered 
in their mother's womb. I don't think that's a statistic 
to rejoice in. Now, I'm glad it's not 106. and 
that it is 98. But we should be glad with nothing 
less than the criminalization of the wholesale murder of defenseless 
babies. Not only do we live in an antinomian 
age with reference to the world, we live in an antinomian age 
with reference to the church. This is nothing new. Paul had 
to deal with it. Jesus had to deal with it. The 
prophets had to deal with it. We have to deal with it. There 
is antipathy to the law of God. There is that, what's with you 
and the law? Why would you preach? Why would 
you teach on the Ten Commandments? That's for Israel of old. Well, 
the apostles didn't view it that way. The apostles saw it as abiding 
for the church today in these lawful uses. The civil, the pedagogical, 
and the normative. It's high time that we become 
biblically literate with reference to the law. J. Gresham Machen, earlier in the 
20th century, said this, a new and more powerful proclamation 
of that law is perhaps the most pressing need of the hour. Men would have little difficulty 
with the gospel if they had only learned the lesson of law. So 
it always is. A low view of the law always 
brings legalism in religion. I love that. A low view of the law promotes 
legalism, not a biblical view. He goes on to say, a high view 
of law makes a man a seeker after grace. Pray God that the high 
view may again prevail. It would be awesome to see the 
churches of our day, instead of having encounter groups and 
mystical experience, would take their Bibles and start looking 
at the commandments of God and their relevance to today. That 
we as individuals would start to take the law seriously and 
quit playing games with God. Quit playing games with our profession 
of faith. If you love me, Jesus said, you'll 
keep my commandments. It's not mystical, it's not ethereal, 
it's not undefinable. You can tell a commandment keeper. 
He looks like Christ. We need to take these things 
seriously. We need to take them seriously, secondly, because 
of the lack of the power of the Gospel. You say, what do you 
mean the lack of the power of the Gospel? The Gospel is powerful. 
The Gospel is glorious. The Gospel is wondrous. I truly 
believe that. When the gospel is stripped of 
this means, or this means of law preaching with reference 
to the gospel isn't there, then we are creating a whole generation 
of Christians that just want to be happier. I guarantee you, brethren, on 
the Day of Judgment, the question will not be, are you happy? Are 
you righteous? That's what matters. That's what 
counts. The necessity of the civil use 
of the law. I mean, I don't even know where 
to begin on that. We Christians have just, you know, we've got 
this idea that Jesus' death on the cross somehow abolishes, 
do not seal. Well, Jesus said, turn the other 
cheek. Okay. These simplistic slogans 
and mottos are certainly not empowering the church. A biblical 
understanding of these concepts will much further our gospel 
witness and will much further our attempt to press the Crown 
Rites of Jesus Christ civilly. The necessity of the tutorial 
or pedagogical use. Several years ago, one of our 
brothers saw a church sign. I doubt he was the only one who 
saw it that said, life goes better with Jesus. You know, under the 
proper qualification and definition, yeah, life does go better with 
Jesus. But not like that. Jesus is not 
Coke. Jesus is not Pepsi. Jesus is 
not a Whopper. Jesus cannot be reduced to a 
marketing scheme. We are not tacticians seeking 
to manipulate with technique. Come to Jesus and you'll have 
better everything. That is not honoring Jesus. If Jesus died on the cross simply 
for us to have happier existences, that was sure overkill. Paul 
says in Galatians 2.21, I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through 
the law, then Christ died in vain. The implication obviously 
being Christ did not come in vain. Righteousness is cured 
only by His work. This tutorial use needs to be 
proclaimed. Consider the apostolic example 
in that wonderful unfolding of God's Gospel, the book of Romans. 
We all say, yes, great book, wonderful, it expounds the Gospel. Paul does not begin his Gospel 
declaration with the love of God. He does not begin his Gospel 
declaration with the happiness of man. He begins his gospel 
declaration where the church needs to return. For the wrath 
of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness 
of men. See, in the grand scheme of things, 
Paul probably wouldn't give a rip if 21st century North Americans 
were happy or not. Paul cares that the wrath of 
God looms over all men everywhere. And because of that, Paul preaches 
the sufficiency In the glory of the Christian Gospel, the 
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness 
and unrighteousness of men who suppress that truth in unrighteousness. As Machen said, we need to pray 
that there would be a high view of God's law prevalent in our 
own day. And we mustn't ever forget that 
the law is not the gospel. Make sure you understand that. 
Paul, after explaining to Timothy this lawful use of the law, he 
says, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which 
was committed to my trust. The word to you today, if you 
are not a Christian, is not leave from this room and get better. 
The word to you today, if you are not a Christian, is that 
you can't get better. You're bad. Now, you may not 
like this, it may not jive in your self-esteem model, but the 
Bible everywhere tells us that fact. We're bad. And you know, 
the Bible even goes a little bit further. It says, the heart 
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can 
understand it? I just read a book on contemporary 
trends in modern theology and how so many of these trends were 
fighting against what they call worm theology. Worm theology 
is when the reformers and those who understood the Bible and 
men like John Newton would write hymns and they would liken us 
as human beings to worms. How dare they do that? It's an 
unfair likeness, I admit. We are far more disgusting than 
worms. Far more disgusting. Worms don't 
abort their babies. Worms don't scream at their children. 
Worms don't abuse chemicals to the point of slavery. Worms don't 
go to banks and rob people and shoot others. Yeah, it is wrong 
to liken sinners with worms. It is an affront to the worm. 
If you are here this day and you are not a Christian, all 
the law in the world isn't going to save you. But hopefully it 
will expose you. Hopefully it will open up your 
heart and show the cesspool that is your heart and point you to 
Calvary, where Christ died, where Christ rose, where Christ filled 
that fountain that is put there for sin and uncleanness. See, 
we have hope. We have great hope. It's not 
in our strength. It's not in our ability. It's 
not in our power to keep the law. It's all about Jesus Christ. He kept the law. He died for 
sinners. He rose again. And the Bible 
says that all who believe on Him will have everlasting life. So if you take one thing from 
this message today, and you're not a Christian, take this. Look 
to Christ. Look to Christ. You may never 
be able to explain what a pedagogue is. You may never be able to 
explain the tutorial use of the law. But please, look and live. Let us pray. Our God and our Father, we thank 
You for Your Word. We thank You for Your glory, 
and we thank You that You have dealt so mercifully with us. 
And God, certainly we live in a day where the law of God is 
held in contempt, not only in our world but in our churches. 
And we just pray, have mercy upon us. not only in our churches, 
but in our own hearts. And even those of us in this 
communion, God, who would affirm Your Law, we are so miserable 
when it comes to actually doing what Your Word says. We pray 
for forgiveness. We pray for cleansing. And we 
pray that we'd have a continuous and a fresh appreciation for 
the glory of Calvary, for what Jesus secured on behalf of sinners. And our God, we pray that You 
would be merciful to revive us Revive us according to Your Word. 
Revive us in Your mercy. Give us zeal to serve You and 
to glorify You and to worship You and praise You. Give us zeal 
as individuals and in our families and in this local church and 
in society. God, help us to let our light 
so shine before men that they would see our good works and 
give glory to you. God, help us to be living testimonies 
of the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, 
for any here that do not know you, whether they're young or 
old, I just pray that you would stir up their hearts, that you 
would show them their sin and show them that one Redeemer, 
that one Savior for sinners, even the Lord Jesus Christ. And 
we pray in His most blessed name. Amen.