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well good evening welcome back to the Lord's house for the evening service just really two announcements the Gosnell videos in case you forgot one this morning they are in the library so you're welcome to help yourself they're sitting on the desk in there there's probably a few copies left and there's a church picnic just to remind you to put that on your calendar if you intend to - to attend that that's June the 8th and that's in atmosphere I believe starts at 11 o'clock it is on the calendar so you're welcome to to take a calendar and remind yourself of that well let's uh begin worship this evening by turning to Psalm 138 Psalm 138 Psalm 138 a psalm of David I will praise you with my whole heart before the gods I will sing praises to you I will worship toward your holy temple and praise your name for your loving kindness and your truth for you have magnified your word above all your name in the in the day when I cried out you answered me and made me bold with strength in my soul all the kings of the earth shall praise you O Lord when they hear the words of your mouth yes they shall sing of the ways of the Lord for greatest is the glory of the Lord though the Lord is on high yet he regards the lowly but the proud he knows from afar though I walk in the midst of trouble you will revive me you will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies and your right hand will save me the Lord will perfect that which concerns me your mercy O Lord endures forever do not forsake the works of your hands amen please turn with me in your hymn books to the first hymn which is him number 212 - 1 - and ask you to please stand [Music] [Music] God in prayer and ask his blessing to be upon our evening worship this evening our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father we come into your holy presence this evening father we desire to praise you and lift up our voices in adoration of the Great God that you are we come to you through an in the name of your son the Lord Jesus Christ how grateful we are Father for the fact that we can have access into the very throne room of God himself this night because of what the Lord Jesus Christ did on the cross on our behalf Lord we thank you we praise you that the Lord Jesus took that punishment of our sin that was due us for our sin he took it upon himself so that we might have a righteousness that is not native to ourselves but rather one that was given to us imputed to us by your son the Lord Jesus Christ so lord we we just identify or remind ourselves of that of that this evening that there is no good thing in us that that gains us access into your throne room this evening that we come in and through the name of your son the Lord Jesus Christ we desire father to lift up your high and holy and mighty name cause us Lord to approach you this night with fear and with the right - with the right sense of trembling that we come to have dealings with a holy God a God who is in the heavens and and and and he he determines all the things that happen on this earth by his sovereign will and Father nothing happens I didn't leaf falls to the ground without your sovereign hand upon these things so lord thank you that we can commit our ways commit each and every day into your hands acknowledging Lord that that you own all things and you direct all things for your purposes and for your and for your praise so Lord we pray that you would be pleased to bless this night cause your word to be preached with with in truth and we pray that you would that you would hedge our pasture in cause him Lord to be kept in truth this night we pray to give to him what he stands in need of and we pray that your word would would find its mark in each one of our each one of our lives as we sit under the word father give to us that that desire - to - to be under the word and and so that we might grow in our knowledge and of the things of God that you might that we might put on the Lord Jesus Christ who might seek to live in a and in a way which would glorify you in our daily lives as we grow about our business as we go to and forth from work and and perhaps school and and and in amongst the shops may all these things be done father we do pray for your honor and for your glory give to us that christ-like dispensation in the way in which we would conduct ourselves we do pray Lord we do ask your blessing upon those in our congregation who are ill who are not well we we know that there are many struggles in this lower world yet father you are the God who who is the first cause of all things and we acknowledge that and so Lord we pray that in their difficulty that you would be pleased to be merciful to them cause them Lord to gain strength each and every day for for that day and we do pray Lord that you would as their days are so their strength would be as well for the older folk in our congregation for for younger younger people who are dealing with health issues we just commit each and every one into your hands and pray Lord that you would be gracious to them and and cause your smile to be upon them and may they know that smile may they know that presence of the Lord Jesus may they may they know that gracious presence of the Spirit of the Living God and may the word be be quickened and in their lives and in their in their minds as well we do pray Lord your blessing to be upon the the persecuted church we know Lord that things are not are not the way they are here and in our own local community in North America all around this world father there's many that are persecuting of the people of Christ and and a certain the Church of Christ Lord how we pray that you would be gracious to those churches be gracious to those individuals who who are genuinely feeling though those difficulties and and feeling that the smarts of of the of the persecuting hand upon them we pray Lord that you would give grace to those individuals cause you word to to be preached boldly we pray that those who are under threat and aren't of persecutions they would not give up the faith but rather they would they would remain strong and faithful because you have made them so we pray Lord that you would that you would deal with those who are persecuting them we pray alone that you would you it's either save them or remove them from from those positions and of power we do pray Lord that so that you would just cause your church to to continue to march forward march onward and we do pray Lord that that you that the knowledge of the Lord would cover this earth as the waters cover the sea Azure reminded this this this morning of that of that passage in in Scripture Lord how we praise you for the fact that you are building your church and we are part of that church here in Chilliwack the church in in Surrey as well in the church in Vernon those churches that are near to us we think of each of them father we pray your blessing upon them this night we do pray Jude especially bless the church in in Surrey as they as they conduct their first baptismal service we pray lo that you would be with them in a special way and cause these things to be an encouragement to the body there and that they would that they would grow in their in their knowledge of the things of God in their their love for the things of God and we pray lo that you would add to that church as many as are to be saved as well and cause that to be acted we have flourishing church and one where the Word of God will be preached faithfully each and every Lord's Day we do pray for the church and Vernon father that you would be pleased to direct an elder there to be amongst them we pray that you would raise up raise up an elder or either amongst them or send one to them that they might know that that that blessing of having a shepherd shepherding the flock there in the in their local community so lord do blessings of church and cause them to be - to grow as well and we do pray that that they would be that you would be pleased to bless them this day as they sit under the Word of God may they be instructed well and may they seek to to take that instruction and and see it grow and into fruition in their lives we do pray so let me just ask your blessing upon all these things acknowledging Lord that you are a gracious God you're a kind God we thank you for your great love that has been set upon us that we would be called sons of God and how we pray Lord that you would be pleased to bless this evening service cause it Lord to be for your for your praise and for your glory in' and we pray that you would help us to to take all distractions away and that we might be focused upon that that intent of praising the God who is amongst us and we pray that you would be pleased to bless us with your with with a sense of the presence of your Holy Spirit in our worship this evening we pray in Jesus precious name Amen well please turn with me in your in your hymn books to the second hymn hymn number 470 470 and I'll ask you to stand [Music] Oh [Music] of course you probably remember last week we finished the the reading of the Old Testament so it's pretty simple in our church we know where to go we go back to the beginning and we begin in Genesis so we're beginning Genesis chapter 1 and we will Lord William can begin there and hopefully the Lord willing and in Malachi for down the road in a number of years of how many years it took us to get there I believe this got to be the second time through the Old Testament in in our 24 years of existence here well Genesis chapter 1 beginning at verse 1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth the earth was without form and void and darkness was on the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters then God said let there be light and there was light and God saw the light that it was good and God divided the light from the darkness God called the light day and the darkness he called night so in the evening in the morning were the first day then God said let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it divide the waters from the waters thus God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the water waters which were above the firmament and it was so and God called the firmament heaven so the evening and the morning were the second day then God said let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear and it was so and God called the dry land earth and the gathering together of the waters he called seas and God saw that it was good then God said let the earth bring forth grass the herb that yields seed and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind whose seed is in itself on the earth and it was so and the earth brought forth grass the herb that yields seed according to its kind and the tree that yields fruit whose seed is in itself a core to its kind and God saw that it was good so the evening and the morning were the third day then God said that there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth and it was so then God made two great lights the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night he made the stars also God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth and to rule over the day and over the night and to divide the light from the darkness and God saw that it was good so the evening and the morning were the fourth day then God said let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens so God created great created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves with which the waters abounded according to their kind and every winged bird according to its kind and God saw that it was good and God blessed them saying be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas and let the birds multiply on the earth so the evening and the morning were the fifth day then God said let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth each according to its kind and it was so and God made the beasts of the earth according to its kind cattle according to its kind and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind and God saw that it was good then God said let us make man in our image according to our likeness let them have dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the air and over the cattle over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them then God blessed them and God said to them be fruitful and multiply fill the earth and subdue it have dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth and God said see I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth and every tree whose fruit yields seed so to you it shall be for food also to every beasts of the earth to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth in which there is life I have given every green herb for food and it was so then God saw everything that he had made and indeed it was very good so the evening and the morning were the sixth day amen well we don't often recommend series teaching series but I can certainly recommend a good one if you go on onto the internet and look up free grace Baptist Church and you can look up studies that have been taught here on Wednesday nights pastor Butler's repeat that has been teaching through Genesis so I highly recommend if you rather than meet a a secondary comment on Genesis chapter one go and get go to the first source go to the best source and I don't mean that just to to to make make fun of that the good teaching but it really has been good teaching as we've gone through the book of Genesis so a far a far more able commentary on this first chapters if you go and look that out and listen to it from Wednesday nights it's on it's on the it's on the internet it's on the web it's on our website other than just to say certainly yes just I was thinking as I was reading just as at Acts chapter one has been a road map to the book of Acts so in the many ways Genesis one two and three our roadmap to not just Genesis but to the entire Bible we have here the beginning and really everything comes back to those first eleven chapters in Genesis and really the course of the whole Bible is set by the by what we have here in Genesis so as I say I recommend go and look look up a good commentary or listen to a good comment I guess I should say by by looking up looking online to what has been taught faithfully here on Wednesday nights well let's let's pray and just ask God's blessing to be upon the reading of his word father we praise you that have this recorded history in the first chapter of Genesis the first book of the Bible we know learned it to be a historical book we know it to be a very theological book as well and we thank you for all that is contained in this first chapter as we consider the Great God who who created all the things that we see before is spoken into spoken into being truly you are you are a great God you are a great creating God and so Lord we we are humbled we bow in adoration of such a great God who who could speak these things into being how we praise you Father for the life has been that's been breathed into into the into man that that we are not just after it's kind as is as is spoken of the the animals and and the herbs but rather we are made in the image of God and how we praise you that that we truly are they the pinnacle of your creation that you have made man in your image so that ultimately he might be saved for your glorious sake we pray Lord that you would be pleased to bless the Word of God it's opened up this night bless our pastor strengthen him in mind us strengthen him in body strengthen him in spirit father that he would be able to preach freely what you would have for us tonight that we might truly glory and the great God that we that we serve and that we know and that we love and who has saved us and we just pray these things in Jesus precious name Amen well please turn with me in your hymn books before we listen to the preaching and that would be to him number 119 el 119 el Ellison Lord and I'll ask you to stand [Music] we [Music] well you can turn with me in your Bibles to proverbs chapter 29 proverbs chapter 29 I had told the brothers and sisters at the Bible study at the theology study yesterday that much of that material was going to be spoken on this evening we're going to look at the joy of keeping God's law and in proverbs 29 at verse 18 we read where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint but happy is he who keeps the law and if you turn back to chapter 28 chapter 28 and proverbs at verse 4 those who forsake the law praise the wicked that such as keep the law contend with them and then again in proverbs 28 at verse 9 one who turns away his ear from hearing the law even his prayer is an abomination amen will let us pray our Father in heaven we thank you for the written word of God we thank you that it is god-breathed that it is authoritative that it's infallible and inerrant and we trust Lord God that you will grant us the grace to receive with Thanksgiving that word tonight we pray that your Holy Spirit would be at work in our minds and hearts we pray that he would indeed take these things in aluminum.aluminum for us and cause us to receive great encouragement from the scriptures again forgive us for our sins and for our transgressions and may we see and may we appreciate what solomon says here happy is he who keeps the law we know father it's not a keeping of the law unto salvation but it's a keeping of the law because you have saved us by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone we rejoice in this and we pray now in his most blessed name amen well as we look at proverbs 29 at verse 18 I would suggest that we see here the usefulness of God's law first for the unbeliever and then secondly for the believer so in the first part of the verse verse 8 chapter 29 verse 18 a where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint that is the use of the law for the law less and then in 18 be but happy is he who keeps the law that is the use of the law for the lawful so let's look first at the use of the law for the law less and the teaching of the tax notice the statement at the beginning of verse 18 where there is no revelation now in this particular context it means the divine word of the living and true God one commentator or rather one dictionary defines it this way divine communication in a vision Oracle or prophecy so Revelation is a good interpretation a good translation of this particular passage where there is no revelation where there is no abiding Word of God where there is no divine word the people cast off restraint now we might ask the question why might there not be Revelation well there are several answers that the Old Testament and the new give us in the first place the absence of Revelation is a sign of God's judgment upon a people you can turn to the Prophet Amos in Amos chapter 8 Amos chapter 8 highlights that the absence of the word of God is a judgment from God most high Amos chapter 8 at verse 11 behold the days are coming says the Lord God that I will send a famine on the land not a famine of bread nor third a thirst for water but of hearing the words of the Lord and they shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east they shall run to and fro seeking the word of the Lord but shall not find it so there are those instances that marked Israel's history were as a result of divine judgment God withdrew from them the word of the Lord in the New Testament you can turn to the book of Romans in Romans chapter 10 the absence of Revelation may be due in part to the fault of the church now that's not what Paul is saying in Romans 10 but I think it illustrates a point notice in Romans 10:14 he says how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed and how shall they believe him whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach unless they are sent as it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace who bring glad tidings of good things but they have not all obeyed the gospel for Isaiah says Lord who has believed our report so then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God so obviously the accent or the emphasis falls on the necessity of hearing the Word of God as that means by which sinners come out of darkness into marvelous light but going back in Paul's argument at verse 14 how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed and how shall they believe him whom they have not heard now if the church does not see as its primary task to educate people in the things concerning God if the church does not see the emphasis in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 they're going to be negligent they're going to be a means by which there is no revelation there is no Divine Word there is no communication from God when churches are more caught up with entertainment or churches are more caught up with sort of social interaction or churches are more caught up with therapy and some other form of moralism they are not going to be the conduit by which that revelation of God comes to mankind and so if the church is deficient if the churches is negligent if the church is lazy they will contribute to a situation where there is no revelation and the people cast off restraint but as well the absence of revelation as a failure on the part of the individual in other words there are those who reject those who resist those who ignore the very word of the Living God so going back to proverbs chapter 29 when that situation occurs when it is the case that there is no revelation the tax goes on to tell us that the people cast off restraint the old King James has it without with where there is no revelation the people perish now it's a section or a bit of scripture that has a wide array of meanings and I think that the New King James is probably on the right track the people cast off restraint the Christian standard Bible glosses it this way and it's quite accurate it may not sound literal but it really is a literal interpretation it says without revelation people run wild without revelation people run while walki says without revelation people fall into anarchy matthew henry offers several glosses on the passage he says without revelation the people are made naked the people rebel the people are idle or they play the people are scattered as sheep having no Shepherd the people perish they are destroyed for lack of knowledge and there he cites Hosea 4:6 my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge so the idea or the emphasis of the text is that where there is no revelation where the Word of God is absent there is a prevalence II of lawlessness and wickedness in other words the particulars of the law that's in view here is what we would call the civil or the political use of the law it's a similar situation to the time in the book of Judges where twice we read there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes there is a blessed effect of having a king there is a blessed effect of having revelation there is a blessed effect of having God's law in that political or civil use because it restrains the wickedness and the abject godlessness of mankind you know it very well in your own home you make rules for your kids and they have to tow a particular line and those rules help facilitate an environment that is conducive to lawful mess without those rules if everybody's allowed to do whatever is right in their own eyes it would be mayhem if that's how your house is please never invite me over because I want nothing new with that kind of anarchy I'm just kidding you can invite me over still but I might encourage you to bring the rod and reproof to those little ones because that's what they desperately need so the use of the law in view here in Proverbs 29:18 a where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint is what is called the civil or the political use of the law Richard Muller defines it this way he says it is according to which the law serves the Commonwealth or body politic as a force for the restraint of sin and then he mentions attacks that we'll look at in just a moment Carl FHN really quoted this in a proverb sermon not very long ago he says even where there is no saving faith the law serves to restrain said and to preserve the order of creation by proclaiming the will of God by its judgments and its threats of condemnation and punishment the written law along with the law of conscience hinders sin among the unregenerate it has the role of a magistrate who is a terror to evil doers it fulfills a political function therefore by its constraining influence in the unregenerate world it is a means of grace common grace by God imposed upon man to restrain man from being as vile and as wretched and as wicked as he can possibly be we ought to be very thankful for this civil or political use because it keeps man from making hell on earth it does provide parameters it provides boundaries and it hedges man in from fulfilling all of their godless lusts at once turn to first Timothy 1:9 as an illustration of this civil or political use of God's law in first Timothy chapter 1 specifically at verse 8 Paul says we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully it's the subject of our study tonight the lawful use of God's law and then he goes on to say knowing this that the law is not made for a righteous person but for the lawless and insubordinate for the ungodly and for sinners the unholy and profane for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers for man Slayers 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 now Paul says specifically knowing this that the law is not made for a righteous person there are other contexts wherein we find that the law is in fact made for a righteous person but not in this use of the law the third use of the law which we're going to look at in a few moments is what's called the normative use of the law and that does have a place in the lives of God's people when Paul wants the people in Rome the believers in Rome to love one another he defines love as obedience in terms of God's law we love one another in this church when we don't murder each other we love one another in this church when we don't steal from one another we love one another in this church when we don't commit adultery with one another spouses there is objective obedience to the law of God as an expression of our love for God and our love for one another that's the normative use but here in 1st Timothy chapter 1 at verse 9 it is the political or civil use so when Paul says that the law was not made for the righteous the way I explained it yesterday was counterfeiting laws most of us don't counterfeit most of us well I'd like to say all of us don't counterfeit we don't have labs in our basements where we go down and we print off 20s and put Prime Minister's faces on them and they go up to Walmart and and pass that phony money we're we're not subject to that law because it has no sort of connection to us and that's the point with reference to the civil or the political use it's made for the unrighteous it's made to restrain them it's made to keep them from engaging in counterfeiting it's made to keep them from engaging in the lawlessness that is outlined here by Paul which is really just a a rehearsal of the Ten Commandments when you look at this list of vices that all speaks off in verses 9 and following he is telling us that these are the 10 commandments so in terms of the civil or the political use of God's law it isn't for the righteous because the righteous are already in compliance with it they're not engaged in murder they're not engaged in adultery they're not engaged in theft they're not engaged in lies and covetousness this is made specifically for the unrighteous to hedge them in to restrain them and and to keep them from going hog-wild or from running while but as well if we look back at proverbs chapter 29 and verse 18 there's another use of the law that obtains for the unbeliever and that's the pedagogical use that's the second use of the law where the law functions as a tutor the law functions as a schoolmaster the law functions to show us our need for the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord so if we look at verse 18 where there is no Revelation the people cast off restraint where there is no divine communication the people don't look for Jesus Christ where there is no condemnation for their sin and lawlessness they will never searched out the remedy for their sin and lawlessness so you've got the civil or political use that avails for the unbeliever but you also have this pedagogical use that avails for the unbeliever as well again Moeller defines it this way the use of the law for the confrontation and refutation of sin and for the purpose of pointing the way to Christ it's precisely one of the uses of God's law we preach to sinners their sinfulness their violation of God's law not because we're better than them not because we want to make them feel bad not because we want to celebrate how great we are but we tell them those things so that they will understand the malady and then seek out the remedy if they don't know what the problem is they will never be looking for the answer of our Lord Jesus Christ now a particular passage that is illustrative here is Romans chapter 3 and verse 20 Romans chapter 3 and verse 20 you could turn there Romans 3:20 is a transition verse it summarizes the preceding argument concerning the universal reign of sin it confirms the certainty of verse 19 and it moves the argument toward the specific goal verses 21 in following where Paul says sinners ought to go because they are sinners notice in verse 19 of Romans 3 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 notice by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight you can never obey God perfectly entirely exactly and perpetually in order to be received by God remember or dead in Adam we are sinners we are rebels we like sheep have gone astray so Paul says very clearly by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight you may be justified in other people's sight you may look good to your neighbors you may look good to your spouse you may look good to your kids you may look good to your parents but in terms of justification the Apostle is dealing with in his sight but then notice this use of the law that he goes on to highlight for by the law is what it's the knowledge of sin so where there is no revelation where there is no communication of divine law the people cast off restraint in terms of they'll never seek after the Lord Jesus Christ see the law of God is absolutely crucial it is necessary to preach churches that don't preach the law of God are not doing their job they are negligent they are contributing to a problem that is huge it is the reality that sinners must know the problem before they'll ever cry out for the Lord Jesus to save that Christ said I didn't come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance and that is precisely what we find with reference to the law it does that turn back to Matthew chapter 19 to see Jesus employ this use of the law in his own earthly ministry Jesus employs this use of the law in his own earthly ministry Matthew chapter 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 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 now Jesus understands the absolute necessity of perfect obedience to the Father for acceptance by the father Jesus is not suggesting that this young man can actually attain that Jesus is not suggesting that this young man is closed and if he just takes this further step then he will demonstrate the fact that he is perfect it is arguable whether he did in fact keep all these things from his youth so Jesus takes the 10th commandment and he applies it to his conscience into his heart when he says 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 he's preaching the law to him he's preaching the 10th word to him and we see that based on the response verse 22 but when the young man heard that saying he went away sorrowful for he had what he had great possessions there's this reality that in his boastful mass that all these things I've kept from my youth he didn't keep that commandant he was a lover of money he was a lover of stuff and when Christ brings that law to bear upon him he would rather go away sorrowful than actually deal with Christ and the gospel so these two uses of the law I think sprang from proverbs chapter 29 at verse 18 I don't think they spring from there I think they're consistent with the entirety of the scripture but we see that in this passage now in terms of some practical forms of wickedness when there is no revelation the people cast off restraint so when they cast off restraint or when they run wild or when they fall into anarchy what sorts of things do we see as a result well the violation of the Ten Commandments we see rampant idolatry we see rampant blasphemy we see rampant Sabbath breaking and insubordination to Authority we see murder we see adultery we see theft and lies and covetousness you see that and it affects those persons as individuals it affects their families it affects society as a whole but in terms of Solomon's school of wisdom in proverbs chapter 28 notice what happens they praise the wicked verse 4 of proverbs 28 those who forsake the law praise the wicked it's a terrible place to be when you're siding with the wicked when you're shouting your abortion when you are praising godlessness and lawlessness and wretchedness if you are on that side of the debate you have taken the wrong turn somewhere along the way this is equivalent to what we find in Romans chapter 1 remember what Paul does in Romans chapter 1 he highlights the guilt of the Gentiles he highlights the wickedness of the heathen those who had no divine Oracle's those who had no word of God perfect example of what happens when men cast off restraint well in Chapter 1 at verse 32 he says who knowing the righteous judgment of God that those who practice such things are deserving of death not only do the same but also they approve of those who practice them so they not only engage in lawlessness but they want to see others damned alongside of them they not only shout their abortion but they want everybody to shout their abortion they not only raid their perversity but they want everybody to do it and then lo and behold at least in our society they not only want to do that and revel in it amongst others but they want to force it down our throats and make us not only see it as something that they do but to accept it and embrace it they're trying to force us to love Big Brother in terms of the ethical perversion that is rampant in this day and age brethren never make the mistake of of not seeing what is at stake in this whole approach to God's holy law and then notice as well in proverbs 28:9 the ruination of the religious life notice in proverbs 28:9 one who turns away his ear from hearing the law even his prayer is an abomination even his prayer is an abomination we might ask the question why would an antinomian or a lawless individual even pray because they're hypocrites why do they do that because they have a form of godliness but they deny its power second Timothy chapter 3 there are the sorts of people that Jesus pictures for us in in Matthew chapter 6 they they scan on the street corner or what rather when they give a charitable or they engage in a charitable deed they make sure everybody sees it when they pray they stand on the street corners and they pray so that everybody can see that when they fast they do it in such a way that everybody around them knows that they're fasting Jesus condemns that approach that Apocrypha but just because someone is lawless just because someone is wretched doesn't mean they don't have an inkling of religion and in proverbs 28:9 he says one who turns away his ear from hearing the law even his prayer is an abomination bridges I think wisely comments here he says this does not mark the frailty infirmity or temptation that too often interrupts the hearing of the law and dampens the attempts the attentive interest in other words if you're a sensitive soul that perhaps started to think about burritos and about the fourth you know section of a sermon and your mind wandered for a little bit that's not you is what he's saying he goes on to say or even the occasional rebellion against the divine commands we have to all admit we all have occasional rebellion against the divine commands yay yes you don't actually have to answer I know the answer on that one we all have that that's not what this text refers to he says the case described is that habitual an obstinate rejection of God that despises his ordinances and refuses the instruction of his ministry that's the problem in verse nine one who turns away his ear from hearing the law even his prayer is an abomination turn back to proverbs 15 for just a moment we see this emphasized not with reference to to just prayer or lawlessness but you see this sort of a theme in proverbs 15 notice in third 15/8 the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord that the prayer of the upright is his delight verse 9 the way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord but he loves him who follows righteousness and then in verse 26 the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord but the words of the pure are pleasant so the idea is is those who reject God those who cast off Revelation they are also casting off restraint they're running wild they are running headlong in the scent they're living as an artist's ethical and artists they are engaged in rebellion against God so that when they go to their knees to pray even that prayer is an abomination to Yahweh now let's look at the use of the law for the law fall in 18 B because he not only says where there is no Revelation the people cast off restraint he says but happy is he who keeps the law now you ought to observed in the first place it's not just having the law that promotes happiness it's the keeping of the law that promotes happiness certainly there's a benefit and a blessing and it's a boon to be where the Word of God is preached it's a blessing and a benefit and a boon to own the Bible so having the Word of God is a good day but the emphasis in our tax is on obedience to the law of God happy as he who keeps it Jesus says go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and he says teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age so it's not just having the word but it's actually doing what the word says that is emphasized by Solomon here the keeper of the law contends with the wicked if the the law lasts praises the wicked according to 28 for the keeper of the law contends with the wicked and then the keeper of the law prays in an acceptable manner to the Lord if in verse 9 of chapter 28 we read what who turns away his ear from hearing the law even his prayer is an abomination by implication one who doesn't turn away his ear from hearing the law one who obeys and keeps the law by the power of the Holy Spirit his prayer is not only not an abomination but it's delightful to the Lord you see that back in proverbs chapter 15 look at 15 again 15 15 8 the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord but the prayer of the upright is his delight this is always encouraged me in in terms of why we ought to pray I'm not saying I always pray the way I ought to but this is an encouragement for us to pray the that the prayer of the upright is God's delight when you know that your spouse likes something you try to do that for your spouse because it brings him or her pleasure if we know that God delights in the prayers of the upright why wouldn't we pray why wouldn't we seek to bring glory and honor and praise unto God why would we him of something that is his do why would we neglect the private place why would we need like the family altar why would we be glad cup uh blick prayer meeting why would we do that when the prayer of the upright is the delight of God most high it's a beautiful and a blessed thing now in terms of the use of the law that believers have here in verse 18 of chapter 29 but happy is he who keeps the law we've already seen that the civil use applies to unbelievers the pedagogical use supplies for unbelievers and there's also application for believers but the use of the law here is particular for the believer then the unbeliever does not have the normative use of the law but rather the believer has what's called the normative use of the law and again Moeller explains pertains to believers in price who have been saved through faith apart from works in the regenerate life the law acts as a norm of conduct freely accepted by those in whom the grace of God works the good so the idea is is John 17:17 when Jesus in that high priestly prayer praised sanctify them by thy truth thy Word is truth go to Romans chapter 13 I already referred to this I want you to see it for yourself so that you can understand that Paul defines love for one another as obedience to concrete commands visa vie the second table of the moral law the Decalogue prophet romans chapter 13 at verse 8 o no one anything except to love one another for he who loves one another has fulfilled the law 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 they're 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 you see that's the normative use of God's law when we wonder as as justified believers how should we conduct ourselves before this holy God the law of God reveals to us his will the law of God reveals to us his perfections the law of God reveals to us that which is pleasing to God Francis turreted explains it this way he says 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 see that's how it functions and if you have an appreciation of the three uses of the law it will hopefully help you as you that the concept of the doctrine of God's law in the Bible and every time the word law applies it's not that every single use is there we see it first Timothy 1:9 he's dealing with the civil use Romans 3:20 he's dealing with the pedagogical use and in Romans chapter 13 he's dealing with the normative use same idea in Ephesians chapter 6 children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right honor your father and your mother the supposition by the Apostle is that they're believing children within the context of the church at Ephesus and as believers in Christ they're supposed to render evangelical obedience to that fifth commandment and thus honor God and their parents now in terms of just a couple of practical observations with reference to 20 29 18 be happy is he who keeps the law I want to suggest three particular applications in terms of happiness or joy associated with keeping the law in the first place keeping the law is a consequence of justifying faith keeping the law is a consequence of justifying faith you can turn to Galatians 5 Galatians chapter 5 we know Paul's point and Galatians if we don't we need to brush up Paul's point in Galatians is the way of acceptance with holy God is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone terms of justification how is a man right before God that justifying work has no dependence whatsoever upon the sinner but all the dependence is upon the Savior even our Lord Jesus in fact go back for just a moment to Galatians chapter 2 Galatians chapter 2 I'm going to jump into the midst of a context without giving a lot of explanation because we don't have the time for it but just look at verse 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law for by the works the law no flesh shall be justified it's pretty obvious pretty evident the Reformers were not wrong Sola feed a faith alone and then drop down to verse 20 Paul says I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me now verse 21 is absolutely crucial not that twenty isn't but look at verse 21 I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness comes through the law then Christ died in vain so the Apostle is saying to these people affected by the Judy icing heresy that if you think for a moment that your works gained acceptance with God then the work of Jesus Christ on the cross was vain in other words if you can earn your salvation based on your merit based on your law TV based on your ability then why the cross if it was up to you then why would the Son of God have to go through what he went through the reality is is that the Son of God went through what he went through in order to save us from our sins because there is no way whatsoever we could have ever earned salvation from a holy God so the emphasis in Galatians is justification by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus but we get to Galatians five and we see the practical outworking of that salvation we see the category of sanctification and in five six the Apostle says for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love now Rome butchers this particular tax but as Protestants we need to understand with Calvin what is described here is how faith functions not how faith is formed faith functions by working through love so keeping the law is a consequence of justifying faith matron says love according to the New Testament is not the means of salvation but it is the finest fruit of it a man is saved by faith not by love but he is saved by faith in order that he may love so if you have love for God if you have a compliance with the law of God if there is in you a desire to do the things that God commands this is a fruit of or a consequence of justifying faith in other words God saves you not because you obey God saves you by grace through faith so that you will obey it's a beautiful thing so you're not doing what God commands in order to be saved you're doing what God commands because by grace you have been saved Jesus makes the statement in John 14:15 if you love me keep my Commandments again it's a consequence or a fruit of or a response of justifying faith our confession says faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness is the alone instrument of justification yet it is not alone in the person justified but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces and it's no dead faith but worketh by love so if there is this keeping of the law and it is for the glory of God it is for the good of souls this is an outflow of your having been justified by faith secondly happy is he who keeps the law keeping the law is a help a help to promote assurance of salvation sometimes persons struggle with assurance of salvation I understand that our confession as a wonderful chapter that speaks to that particular struggle but even more importantly there's a book in the New Testament that speaks to that particular struggle as well turn with me to first john fact first john gives us the point of first john in 1st john chapter 5 at verse 13 justice john gives a purpose for the writing of the gospel in john 20 here he gives a purpose for the writing of his first epistle in 1st John 5:13 he says these things I have written to you who believed in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life see it's a good thing to have assurance of faith it's a good thing to have assurance of salvation because you will function in a different manner than those who do not understand or have this assurance of faith and so first John is calculated to promote in the people of God this assurance so these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God now within the book itself he gives us several helps to promote this assurance notice in 1st John chapter 2 first John chapter 2 again second application I'm making is keeping the law is a help to promote assurance of salvation 1st John 2:3 now by this we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments again the point is not I'm going to keep his Commandments in order to be saved I'm going to keep his Commandments in order to know him know you've been saved by grace through faith you know him because he has first known you but an evidence or a manifest state manifestation of this is his obedience to his law 1st John 2:3 we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments notice in 1st John 3:14 we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the Brethren see before we were saved we didn't love the Brethren the Brethren are the blood bots the Brethren are the redeemed the Brethren and may at times bump into us we may have some friction from time to time we may not always see eye to eye and every jot and tiddle but we love the Brethren that's a good sign if you love the Brethren God has done a work most likely in your heart we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the Brethren he who does not love his brother abides in death whoever hates his brother as a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in it and then notice in three eighteen and nineteen my little children let us not love in Word or in tongue but in deed in truth and by this we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him first John three 23 and 24 first John 3 23 and 24 again keeping the law is a help to promote assurance of salvation first John 3:23 and this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us commandment now he who keeps his Commandments abides in him and he and him and by this we know that he abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given us isn't 3:23 intriguing and and this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of the of his son Jesus Christ that is a command that is absolutely imperative the entrance into the Christian life is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ when you are in the Lord Jesus Christ you're supposed to love one another as he gave us commandment and then in John first John five two and three by this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his Commandments for this is the love of God that we keep his Commandments and His commandments are not burdensome see if the commandments are burdensome if they are Grievous if you look at them as being something that is horrific that is a bad sign brethren we may struggle we will always struggle to comply with it a hundred percent that the law is holy it's good it's it's Justin it's right the problem is never with the law the problem is always with us the New Testament believer says with' says with David in the Old Covenant oh how I love thy law it is my meditation all the day it is something the people of God delight in and just incidentally look how John defines sin in 1st John 3 first John 3 for whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness and sin is lawless Ness so in terms of some practical out workings if happy is who keeps the law we see that keeping of the law is a consequence of justifying faith keeping of the law is a help to promote assurance of salvation and then thirdly keeping of the law is an expression of gratitude to God it is an expression of gratitude to God we talked about this yesterday Birkhoff hit on this Birkhoff makes this comment they the reformed stand strong in the conviction that believers are still under the law as a rule of life and of gratitude when you obey God when you do what God says this is an expression of your gratitude to God for what he has done in your life Birkhoff goes on to say hence the Heidelberg catechism devotes not less than 11 Lord's days to the discussion of the law and that in its third part which deals with gratitude you would think the Ten Commandments would would show up at that first part in the heidelburgh that deals with our guilt now there is a reference in that section on how do we know our sin and misery well the law tells me so but in terms of the exposition or amplification of the Ten Commandments it's in the third section you've got guilt grace gratitude when we obey God it is an expression of our gratitude to God our own confession in the chapter on assurance of salvation says and therefore it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure that they're by his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit in love and thankfulness to God they go on to say and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience the proper fruits of this assurance so far is it from inciting or inclining men to looseness in other words when we obey God we are not doing so in order to get saved we're doing so as an expression of our gratitude to us having been saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ so back to Solomon where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint but happy is he who keeps the law well I hope that you will understand the law of God is used in these three ways first civil / political second pedagogical and third normative with reference to the normative this one has fallen on hard times in our own generation I think the only ones that actually affirm this use of the law and and give any heed to it is the reform often times in evangelicalism there is no concern whatsoever for the 10 commandments there's no concern whatsoever for law keeping and law keeping in many places is regarded as legalism you talk about a word that is abused there are good definitions of legalism and the normative use of the law in the lives of God's people e8 one of them it is not legalism to do what God says as an expression of gratitude as a help to promote assurance and as having flown out of a heart justified by faith alone John Murray spoke to this issue in his day I would suggest it's even worse in our day he 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 he says 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 now when he says this is a strange thing that it's entertained by any believer who is a serious student of the New Testament I would suggest there's not a whole lot of serious students of the New Testament but as well when you do read Scripture and you do so with an eye to appreciating how God is God's law is used in various places you will hopefully glean from that the reality that this idea of the threefold use of the law is good and that as God's people it filled we have that pattern we have that law as a rule of life and it is our joy and our delight and our blessed pleasure to do what God calls us to do if it is Grievous if it is burdensome if it's a heavy thing if it's something that that causes more consternation than than than rejoicing or celebration then you need to check your heart because the law of God reflects for us or reveals to us who God is and the blood-bought wants to be like his father well hopefully this is helpful and hopefully it makes sense of this text where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint but happy happy as he who keeps the law well let us pray our Father we thank you for your word we thank you for these things and in the book of Proverbs for the the reality that they are consistent from Genesis to Revelation god we thank you for your law we thank you for its law lawful uses in our own hearts and lives we do pray that it would be continued to continue to be proclaimed throughout churches and and that that exercise of restraint would occur by your your hand and by your power and by your mercy and that civil use and we pray that that law would be preached to sinners to show them their great need for the Savior to provoke in them that that that misery that realization of their own lawlessness and that's seeking after the remedy in our Lord Jesus Christ we ask that you would go with us now and help us to bring glory and honor and praise to you and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed you