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[Music] well good morning good evening welcome back to the house the Lord I was thinking we were there we were here this morning and we enjoyed we enjoyed it and nice to have a saw about have you all back this evening by way of announcements I believe the only announce would be that there will be Bible study on Wednesday night this coming Wednesday so we'll look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible well please turn with me your Bibles to psalm 119 psalm 119 psalm 119 verses 33 to 40 33 to 40 of psalm 119 teach me O Lord the way of your statutes and I shall keep it to the end give me understanding and I shall keep your law indeed I shall observe it with my whole heart make me walk in the path of your Commandments for I delight in it incline my heart to your testimonies and not to covetousness turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in your way establish your word to your servant who is devoted to fearing you turn away my reproach which I dread for your judgments are good behold I long for your precepts revive meet in your righteousness amen well please turn with me in your hymn books to the first hymn which is him 220 to him 222 I'll ask you to stand please [Music] man you may be seated let's go to God in prayer and ask his blessing to be upon our meeting time here this evening let's pray our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father we praise you Lord for your great faithfulness of which we just sung up here in regards to father you have cared for us from from ages past and we believe father that even here this evening you continue to care for us and we thank you for your graciousness that you would bend your ear from heaven towards us of people who desire to praise you to worship here you to worship you here this evening at free Grace Baptist Church and to the fact Lord that you would look down upon us with with great mercy and with great pity we praise you and thank you for that thank you to our God who is and thrown by the praises of your people what kind what great condescension we consider that that that the the God eternal the God of heaven and earth would bend his ear to hear the praises and and being thrown by those praises if your people we praise you and we thank you father we thank you for your holiness for your greatness that you are a God who is altogether different from us you are you are a God who is afar off a God who is who is great in holiness and and majesty and and yet father you are God who is near we thank for that eminent sense of of the God of heaven and earth that you Tabernacle you dwell with your people and even here this evening father as we gather together to hear your word and to have your word opened up but to have your your word exposited here this evening how we praise you frauds you've given to us that promise of the Holy Spirit to take that word and and and and gift gift pastors and teachers and elders with with those gifts and you've given to us these 66 books and in order to be edified in and built up and and and sanctified and we praise you Father for these these great gifts that are ours in Christ Jesus but most of all most of all we thank you Father for for your son the Lord Jesus Christ and again speaking of condescension the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ would leave his throne room in heaven to come to this earth how we praise you Father for that for that Lord Jesus Christ who who came in the form of a baby and and lived and died in perfect obedience to all the father has set down for us and how we praise you for that for that for that act of obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ said that when he died he dies a perfect sacrifice on behalf of us sinners and now we praise you Father for the gift of salvation the fact that you set your love upon a people that you call this by knit by our name you valued by individuals and we praise you felt you set your love upon those whom you called and we pray Lord that you would be pleased to in this night cause us to love you that with a greater love as we leave this place how we pray that we might truly enjoy that the Blessed the blessedness of knowing this Savior the Lord Jesus Christ as we all return to our homes and places of employment and work in this coming week or whether we're at the hole in the home or in school whatever as students whoever may be doing this week how we pray for other might revel in the fact that you love us and you sent your one and only Son to die in the cross for us that we might that we might know forgiveness of sins to know that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life we praise you for these gifts these great gifts that are ours in Christ Jesus this night so Lord we pray that you would be truly praising and honored by the lives that we seek to live forgive us of our kin of our sins father we know that we cannot live perfect lives we still need that precious blood of your son the Lord Jesus Christ daily for the forgiveness of those of those ongoing sins and we pray though that you'd be pleased to to to to cause us to to put off the foot off the old man and put on the new man day by day we pray Lord your blessing to be upon those who are sick amongst us we know Lord there are some who have not been with us this day or who are perhaps who are here but not feeling well we pray Lord that you would strengthen each and every one you know what their needs are we pray that you to strengthen them in body we do pray that Lord your blessing for those who have who have appointments coming up in the week ahead we pray though that you would bless them that you would bless the the medical system as well we know Lord that you are the first cause of all things and so it's to you that we go and seek and and plead on their behalf and pray Lord that you might hear their their cry we pray Lord that they might that you would be merciful to them and in their in their ailment in their sickness in their old age whatever it may be that father you would be very precious to them and cause them to continue to look to you and enjoy that that presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and that satisfaction of knowing that they are in the Lord Jesus that they are in the beloved and we praise you for these things let me do pray your blessing to be upon even the the as we consider that tomorrow is an election here in this country Lord how we pray that you would be merciful to us as a nation cause Lord us as as the Church of Christ do to to to be to be humbled you even as we come before you we know your Lord you are a great God you are holy God and yet you are a merciful God so we just simply plead your mercy and pray that your will would be done tomorrow in this nation of ours the Church of Christ might continue to be to exist to enjoy freedoms in this nation and we do pray Lord that there there would be a sense whereby the church as its revived as its built up as its built up in her most holy faith that father we would be that that influence upon the nation that influence upon this world in which we live and all the places you place each one of us father we pray that we would seek to be an influence for good and for righteousness sake in this nation of ours Lord we do just commit ourselves now into your hands for this night we praise you father it is our it's our privilege just to come here this evening it's our privilege to sit under the word of God and how we pray it you'd bless that word and own it this night and we do ask your blessing now for it's in Jesus precious name we pray amen well please turn with me your hymn books to the second hand which will be hymn number 542 542 and I'll ask you to stand please [Music] [Music] [Music] amen please turn with me in your Bibles to our Old Testament Bob arena which is Genesis chapter 17 Genesis chapter 17 Genesis chapter 17 beginning verse 1 we'll read the whole chapter when abraham era sorry excuse me when Abram was 99 years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him I am Almighty God walk before me and be blameless and I will make my covenant between me and you and will multiply you exceedingly then Abram fell on his face and God talked with him saying as for me behold my covenant is with you and you shall be a father of many nations no longer shall your name be called Abram but your name shall be Abraham for I have made you a father of many nations I will make you exceedingly fruitful and I will make nations of you and Kings shall come from you and I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and your descendants after you also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession and I will be their God and God said to Abraham as for you you shall keep my covenant you and your descendants after you throughout their generations this is my covenant which you shall keep between me and you and your descendants after you every male child among you shall be circumcised and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you he who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised every male child in your generations he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant he who is born in your house and he who has bought with money must be circumcised and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant and the uncircumcised male child who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin that person shall be cut off from his people he has broken my covenant then God said to Abraham as for Sarai your wife you shall not call her name Sarai but Sarah shall be her name and I will bless her and also give you a son by her then I will bless her and she shall be a mother of Nations kings of people's shall be from her then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart shall a child be born to a man who is 100 years old and shall Sarah who is nineteen ninety years old bear a child and Abraham said to God oh that Ishmael might live before you then God said no Sarah your wife shall bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him and as for Ishmael I have heard you behold I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly he shall be get to all princes and I will make him a great nation but my covenant I will establish with Isaac whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year then he finished talking with him and God went up from Abraham so Abraham took Ishmael his son all who were born in his house and all who were bought with with with his money every male among the men of Abraham's house and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day as God had said to him Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin and Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin that very same day Abraham was circumcised and his son Ishmael and all the men of his house born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner were circumcised with him amen well certainly we are blessed indeed when we consider that were part of that that same covenant that God made with with with Abraham we in the New Testament we forever and ever all all generations are part of that covenant if we're in Christ and Christ of course is the one who kept perfectly that covenant we could not keep and and we praise God for that that we are named along with those descendants of Abraham well that's grateful our gracious that our loving Heavenly Father we truly are grateful for the fact that you have given to us a name that is found in the Lord Jesus Christ you have places in Christ and you've kept us in Christ and how we pray lo that even this night you would be pleased to cause us to to look intently into your word and be Berean that we might grow in the things of Christ not just remain stagnant in our Christian lives but rather we would be growing and seeking to excel in the things that we know to be true and even in our in good works how we pray Lord that you would bless your word we thank you for our pastor we prayed she would strengthen him from on high we pray Lord that you give to him that which he stands in need of to stand in this pulpit and declare your truth that we pray that Lord we would hear from you and that you'd be well pleased to to Tabernacle amongst us and give to us a great insight into your Holy Word we do pray for any and all father amongst us who who know nothing of the claims of Christ who can say honestly they are not part of this covenant of which of which we speak a read of here in Genesis 17 how we prayed lo that she would cause them to look to the Lord Jesus Christ be given that that gift of faith to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you'd be pleased to to cause salvation to go from this place this night we do just commit ourselves now into your hands and pray your blessing your Holy Spirit to be upon the preached word here this evening and it's in Jesus precious name we pray amen well please turn with me your hymn books for the final hymn before we come before we go to the preaching and that would be him number 119 el 119 el I'll ask you to please stand [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 5 Deuteronomy chapter 5 continuing exposition of the Ten Commandments we're on part two of the first commandment last time we covered this material we saw the prohibition of the commandment the commandment reads in verse 7 you shall have no other gods before me with reference to the prohibition there are sins forbidden in the commandment namely atheism polytheism idolatry proper sorcery witchcraft heresy worship of the creature rather than the Creator as well we saw the ways that the commandment is broken in our thoughts and words and deeds and tonight we're going to take up the positive aspects of the commandment we looked at one of those last time which was in fact the knowledge of God tonight we'll consider the love of God secondly the fear of God third the necessity of obedience to God fourth the necessity of trust in God and finally the proper worship of God so those are some positive aspects of the first commandment but I do want to read beginning in verse 6 just to get it in front of us so that our minds are warmed with God's holy law I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage you shall have no other gods before me you shall not make for yourself a carved image any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth you shall not bow down to them nor serve them for I the Lord your God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the father's upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but showing mercy to thousands to those who love me and keep my Commandments you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain observed the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God in it you shall do no work you nor your son nor your daughter nor your male servant nor your female servant nor your ox nor your donkey nor any of your cattle nor your stranger who is within your gates that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you and remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep this out a day honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded you that your days may be long and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you you shall not murder you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor you shall not covet your neighbor's wife and you shall not desire your neighbor's house his field his maids male servant his female servant his arts his donkey or anything that is your neighbors these words the Lord spoke to all your assembly in the mountain from the midst of the fire the cloud and the thick darkness with a loud voice and he added no more and he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me amen will let us pray our Father we thank you for the written word of the Living God we thank you for your holy law and father we know that there is a lawful use and an unlawful and we thank you that you've shown us the way to salvation is not through law because of our own sinfulness our own depravity our own wickedness God you have shown us the grace of God the mercy of God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ you've shown us justification by faith alone but as justified believers we know now that our our commitment to you is often that best expressed in the way that we observe your holy law so God in terms of our lives of sanctification may your Holy Spirit guide us according to the written word and may you help us to love these things and help us to internalize these things and help us to delight in the law in the inner man and father forgive us now for our sins in our transgressions of this law and cause us Lord God to repent and to forsake and define mercy from you and fill us now with your Holy Spirit as we consider this and we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well as I said when we look at these Commandments there is the prohibition that is obvious on the surface of it and then there is that necessary implication in terms of positive aspect so here the prohibition is you shall have no other gods before me so by way of implication all these other things flow out of this command the knowledge of God last time we considered how important it is in fact you see that relationship there between verses 6 & 7 verse 6 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage he defines for us or describes to us who he is so that we can respond in kind therefore you shall have no other gods before me before that one who has brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage so it's imperative that we know this God we need to know the doctrine of the Trinity who God is in and of himself we need to know the perfections of God we need to know the knowledge or we need to have that knowledge of the external works of God namely creation and Providence and redemption and then as I said there are several other sore after sex the love of God is the natural reflex of the heart that has been conquered by God's sovereign grace in Deuteronomy chapter 6 in verse 4 we see Israel central confession of faith Deuteronomy 6:4 says hear o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength so this is the natural response of the conquered by grace art to the god of sovereign grace we are to love it we confess this theological orthodoxy that the Lord our God the Lord is one and in response to that we love him we adore him we seek to honor him we enjoy it we understand that Westminster Shorter Catechism question number one what is the chief end of man man's chief and is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever that is an expression of our love for God Almighty all throughout the Pentateuch all through the books of Moses there is this recurring emphasis on the love of God that is necessary in the hearts of his people Meredith Klein says the past mercies of God rehearsed in the historical prologue prompt such love and the love reveals itself in reverent obedience to all God's particular Commandments and when we look there at Deuteronomy 6:5 notice the emphasis in terms of the entirety of man it says you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength this first commandment demands allegiance it demands obedience it demands love on the part of the creature for the creator and that means everything in us Christopher Wright says to love God then with all your heart and with all your soul means with your whole self we don't hold anything back from our God including your rationality mental capacity moral choices and will inner feelings and desires and the deepest roots of your life I think that's a great sort of explanation of what's in view here in Deuteronomy 6:5 but turn over to Matthew's Gospel in Matthew chapter 22 and see how our Lord answers the question which is the great commandment in the law he appeals to this particular passage in Deuteronomy chapter 6 at verse 5 so in Matthew 22 36 teacher which is the Great Commandment in the law jesus said to him you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind so Christ says this is in fact the greatest of the commandments this is the way that we express our allegiance to God our devotion to God our honor of God and our worship toward him it is expressed through love to God and this is in itself a response to that central confession here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one that is a theological confession on the part of God's people as well it is a personal confession Yahweh is our Lord he is our God he is our blessed Savior and as well it is a practical confession it describes our response to God every fiber of our being is to be employed in our love for God John Gill says that is with all the powers and faculties of the soul the will the understanding and the affections in the most sincere upright and perfect manner without any dissimulation in hypocrisy and above all objects whatever for this the law requires again that's the commandment I realize we do not love him as we ought we're going to follow up on this at the end in terms of application remember there's a few different ways to use the law of God and one of the ways that we ought to use the law of God is to see our own sin and to see our own misery and to see the necessity that we have to repent but in terms of the aspect of the command in terms of a positive application love to God is absolutely crucial and then turn over to Romans chapter 12 for just a moment Romans chapter 12 with reference to this confession of who God is this with reference to this confession of what God has done for his people we see that this love to God is a logical thing it it flows rightly it is absolutely and utterly consistent in the heart of the redeemed notice in Romans 12:1 he says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable service it is reasonable based on everything that Paul is said in Romans chapters 1 to 11 look at verse verse 1 in Chapter 12 he says I beseech you therefore that means that this is a concluding implication and inference this is where he comes to apply all that he has been disc or sing on in chapters 1 to 11 the argument is simple if God has saved you those who were a clear recipients of his wrath and his curse and his judgment if God has saved you by His grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ he has filled you with the Holy Spirit he has given you every spiritual blessing in the heavenly people in Christ Jesus then it naturally follows that you will present your bodies unto Him as a living sacrifice this is in fact your reasonable service it is logical it is consistent in the heart of the redeemed to love God with all the heart the soul the mind and the strength we are to have no other gods besides in spite of in defiance of to the disadvantage of to the neglect of me God says again the dominant issue here is God's jealousy this comes out in the second commandment the constant battle for the exclusive sovereignty of God his incomprehensible majesty does not allow any division of man's Allegiance so this first commandment calls upon God's people to exercise allegiance to him and that allegiance is seen first and foremost in love to God but secondly there is this fear of God and again I think this is a logical and a consistent sort of application when we understand who God is it ought to promote in our hearts the fear of God in fact wilhelmus a brothel the Dutch theologian said if the soul may perceive God in His Majesty glory and holiness it cannot but be that the soul will tremble out of respect for God so the fear of God again is consistent with this particular commandment it is a positive aspect go back to the book of Exodus so that we can try and define what this fear of God is I think there's a lot of misunderstanding with reference to the fear of God we see the fear of God spoken of in two ways here in Exodus chapter 20 at verses 18 to 21 and what the Bible emphasizes in terms of fear to God or fear of God that is biblical that is consistent that is good it is a filial it is a respect it is a reverential awe for the true and living God in Exodus 20 at verse 18 it says now all the people witnessed the thunderings the lightning flashes the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking and when the people saw it they tremble stood afar off then they said to Moses you speak with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die and Moses said to the people do not fear for God has come to test you and that his fear may be before you so that you may not sit so you see Moses uses fear there in two different ways on the one hand do not fear theologians refer to this as a servile fear it's the type of fear that runs from God it's the type of fear manifested with Adam and Eve where they tried to hide themselves from God that servile fear is not what's being enjoined with reference to the commandment but rather it is that filial fear it is that fear that Moses speaks to secondly do not fear for God has come to test you and that his fear may be before you so that you may not sin turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 5 again we had continued reading we would see that this is precisely what God the Lord requires from his creature from his redeemed ones from those who by grace have come to confess his lordship his sovereignty his glory and his majesty in Deuteronomy 528 it says then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me and the Lord said to me I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you they are right and all that they have spoken oh that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep all my Commandments that it might be well with them and with their children forever so you see this is God's design that we understand who he is that we respond accordingly that we give in that reverential awe that is due unto him and in the language of Braco just quoted it is a demonstration or a trembling out of respect for God Almighty john murray describes the fear of God in this 2nd sense this filial fear as the soul of godliness he also wrote the fear of God in us is that frame of heart and mind which reflects our apprehension of who and what God is saying thought that Braco brings out when we understand who God is when we and something of his perfections yes the reflexes love we love him we adore him we seek to honor him and glorify Him and enjoy him forever but we also fear Him because he's God and we're not he is the creator and we are the creature he is altogether lovely in chief among ten thousand and he is most excellent most glorious most wondrous and we are in comparison not even worms because worms do what worms are supposed to do we are sinners we are vile we have rejected we have we have raised the fists at him but having been conquered by Sovereign Grace now it promotes in us that heart of fear before the Lord Most High and that fear of God is a consequence ultimately of God's grace John Newton and that famous hymn tells us twas grace that taught my heart to fear when the Apostle Paul indicates what is wrong with men in Romans chapter 3 you know that bit where he says there is none righteous no not one there's none who seeks after God he ends the whole sort of Catina of verses by saying there is no fear of God before their eyes we should fear God who would not fear the Oh king of the nations for indeed it is they do that's what Jeremiah the Prophet says and that's what John the Apostle says but we know because of sin we have gone astray and we don't fear him as we ought so now that he conquers us by Sovereign Grace we know who he is we understand something of his perfections we respond to him in love and adoration and with this fear and when Newton penned this particular stanza of the hymn he wasn't just sort of making things up in the prophet jeremiah jeremiah 32:40 it's a promise a new covenant blessing the Prophet our God through the Prophet says and I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from doing them good it's not a beautiful concept I will not turn away for doing them good in that particular section God says I will plant them in the land with all my heart and all my soul all that God is God is for his people we don't get a bit of God a little peace of God a little bit of afterthought with reference to God we get God and all that is in God is God and he's all that for his people always it's a beautiful thought it's a beautiful expression of his perfections but he says I will not turn away from doing them good but I will put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from me in other words the fear of God is a gracious acquisition on the part of the sinner we do not have this by Nature there may be the servile fear we may hear a sermon on the law and want to run and hide from God but this filial fear is a running to and finding refuge in God and respecting him and honoring him and glorifying him and revering him as is fitting John Flavel said this fear of God is a gracious habit or principle planted by God in the soul whereby the soul is kept under and holy awe of the eye of God and from thence is inclined to perform and do what pleases him and to shun and avoid whatsoever he forbids and hates it is planted in the soul as a permanent and fixed Abbot to fear man is natural but to fear God is wholly supernatural and I think that that is a great way to express the gracious character of the fear of God but before we close out this particular point I want to mention that the fear of God is not inconsistent with joy in the presence of God you hear that outside of Christian circles people say well you know the fear of God I remember that as a kid I would hear you know statements about you know having been brought up Roman Catholic they weren't big on preaching as far as I remember the fear of God and it's in its proper way they were all about servile fear they were all about using God as a mallet to sort of keep people in line that really is prevalent at least in my experience of the Roman Catholic institution so I'd hear this fear of God expressed in a favorable way and absolutely and utterly perplexed me I wondered how could anyone be happy again working from that Catholic framework were servile fear you know they were they were great it sort of doling that out they were great it sort of you know giving that or instilling that to you but but as a young papist hearing that how could it be good to fear God and it sounds miserable doesn't it the fear of the Lord you you're hiding under the piano you you're constantly you know sort of wincing from God well as we consider Scripture especially in the Old Testament revelation the fear of the Lord is basically those who are God's people the people who fear the Lord are those who are rightly connected to God but the fear of the Lord is not inconsistent with joy with Thanksgiving and heartfelt praise in Psalm 211 it tells us serve Yahweh with fear and rejoice with trembling so it ought never to be the case that the fear of God promotes a moroseness or a despair or a despondency but rather the true fear of God is what ultimately brings that joy that Thanksgiving that rejoicing in the sight of God and there is a practical sort of explanation or demonstration of this at the tomb of Jesus in Matthew 28 8 when the disciples go and they find the tomb empty it tells us they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy so again those things are not inconsistent and they ran to bring his disciples were so positive aspects of the first commandment in terms of our allegiance to God we need to know God we need to love God we need to fear God and then fourthly working with both sermons we need to obey God the nature of the commandment demands that going back to Deuteronomy 5 7 you shall have no other gods before me now it doesn't say in this particular sense that well therefore you need to obey everything I say everything written around the revelation of the ten commandments encourages the Israelites and by extension the New Covenant Israelites the church to obey God God is the authority God is the lawgiver God is the one who calls us to obey not because he's mean or he's vicious or he's capricious or he's arbitrary but because he's the moral governor of the universe and he knows what's best for his creatures and we are to render that obedience unto Him yeah john calvin commenting on the verse as a whole or the commandment as a whole he says the purpose of this commandment is that the Lord wills alone to be preeminent among his people and to exercise complete authority over them now in our particular era that would no doubt shock the delicate sensitivities of persons who love their freedom who love this idea that constraint is bad who have this concept that any form whatsoever of anybody ever telling us what we do is absolutely contrary to the way that we should be that's absolutely false God is as I said the lawgiver God is the authority God is the one who has the absolute authority to command us and to tell us what to do our response ought to be how can we best please how can we best serve how can we best embrace our subordinate position under God most high so the nature of the commandment demands obedience to our Lord God John 14:15 what does Jesus say in the upper room to his disciples he says if you love me you will keep my Commandments we considered this in the morning our studying the confession of faith chapter 16 of good works we're not saved because of our good words we're not saved because we obey God we obey God and we engage in good works because we're saved those are consequences of us having been conquered by Sovereign Grace and I think that's what Jesus means in John 14:15 you love me you will keep my Commandments it's a it's a no-brainer kids express this with their parents hopefully each and every day there is this love there is this fear not the servile dad's going to whack me but this reverence for dad which issues forth in obedience to the commandments of the parental authority in the home now this is certainly a recurring emphasis in first John and you can turn there first John mandates I know it's crazy that we actually obey God as God's people we need to actually obey Him first John chapter 2 verse 3 now by this we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments this is just a just we have totally missed so much thinking I was actually discussing with my wife earlier today I I just wish the church would preach the Bible churches that don't preach the Bible make it difficult for those who do try to preach the Bible see when you try to preach the Bible today what are you typically labeled as your narrow your exclusive your bigoted your prejudiced every single church should be looked at that way in this particular community we are narrow we are prejudiced not against any ethnic group or anybody for you know reasons that our onion oh they can't change or whatever but there is an exclusivity about covenant religion we do not Brooke rivals with false gods we are Brooke rival with these false gods or this the concepts of men we need to preach the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth and nowadays to actually preach obedience to God is looked upon as a form of legalism now legalism is pernicious legalism is terrible but there's a whole lot of different things involved in legalism and obeying God as a blood-bought child of God ain't legalism if you think that's legalism please please please read 1st John from cover to cover read everything he says about obedience to our God and Father these are evidences and fruits of a true and lively faith in the hearts of God's people notice in 229 if you know that he is righteous you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him reality is is that when were born of him the reflex is to obey Him to do what he calls us to do notice in first John 3:24 first John 3:24 now he who keeps his Commandments abides in him and he in him and by this we know that he abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given us and just don't want to neglect verse 23 because I know in our community sometimes people don't think this is really a commandment verse 30 23 says 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 it's not presumptuous to preach believe on the Lord Jesus Christ it is consistent with what God commands it is not easy believe ISM to preach believe on the Lord Jesus Christ because this is what God commands it is wrong and bad and misplaced and unbalanced to not preach believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that's the fault that's the error that's the problem not actually telling sinners that there is hope to be had in Jesus Christ the Lord that simply in congruence with what scripture says at this particular point now notice in five three four this is the love of God that we keep his Commandments notice how all these things are intertwined you know I'm giving them sort of in an order here but but they're a conglomerate it's a complex it's a it's a lot of things there's that knowledge of God there's that that that uh love to God that fear of God that that obedience to God they're all they don't go together this is the love of God that we keep his Commandments and His commandments are not burdensome I've often thought that if the commandments of God are burdensome to you you either to repent or B need to be born again because in terms of the people of God the burden isn't the law of God the burden is our inability or perhaps our unwillingness to actually follow the law of God we do say with the Apostle a wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death there there's no peace in the heart of the man with remaining corruption he cries out to God he struggles he wants to obey he wants to do that is what is right but he doesn't pick and choose he doesn't say you know lord I don't like these commandments I don't like this commandment I don't want that commandment I remember a comedian when I was growing up and he thought it was so funny to say you know I I believe in seven of the Ten Commandments and of course everybody laughs and all that sort of thing I never thought I'd live as a pastor and a Christian to see that that's the case in the church we like a few of that and we will rehearse a few of them but the fourth commandment remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy God can't tell me what to do on that day God can't tell me what I'm supposed to do or not do on on a particular day I'm a I'm a free man in Jesus I can do whatever it is I want well think about that application of God's law we are never called to pick and choose and and and to just take the ones that that are most pleasing to us that is absolutely reprehensible on the part of the professing Christian the commandments of God are not burdensome so we have obviously the necessity of obedience to God next we have the necessity of trust in God the necessity of trust in God consider the children of Israel what they were called upon to do in terms of their lives in terms of their mission in terms of movement God had made a promise first to Abraham and then it moves through Isaac and then to Jacob that he's going to give them a land and he's going to give them a sea and then they go into bondage and Egypt they are in captivity for those many many years and then God redeems them God frees them and God calls them to travel to the promised land they had to do this with trust in God in fact go to Deuteronomy chapter 8 to see this evident in the lives of the is Ray lights in their sojourn deuteronomy chapter 8 the necessity to trust God Deuteronomy 8:1 every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your father's seed land Abraham Isaac Jacob comes to fruition now they need to do this in order for these promises to be realized actualized fulfilled in the lives of his people verse 2 I'm sorry verse 2 and you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness to Humble you and test you to know what was in your heart whether you would keep his Commandments or not so he humbled you allowed you to hunger and fed you with manna which which you did not know nor did your fathers know you see God's tutelage of his people God's leadership of his people isn't always roses it isn't always happiness it isn't always full refrigerators it isn't always an abundance in your bank account there are instances and seasons and times and lives of God's people there is affliction there is hardship there is travail and difficulty not because God is unable to give you good stuff but because God is bent on promoting it you trust in God does that make sense if we had no afflictions if we had no trials if we had no hardships we'd live as if there was no God this is what the proverbs say in proverbs 30 give me neither poverty nor riches why if I'm rich I'm gonna forget God that's the tendency that's the pressure that we face and God highlights that in this particular account so back to the beginning of verse three so he humbled you allowed you to hunger and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know now notice that he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord it other words God did this to inculcate in you trust God did this in you to promote trust in him that he is gracious that he is kind that he is sovereign that he is an authority that is to be trusted and he has guided you and he has led you and he will continue to protect and provide for you may not always be the way that you think or want but the Lord God does deliver turn over to proverbs chapter 3 a passage we considered probably a year ago and our studies in the book of Proverbs proverbs 3:5 and 6 with reference to trust and God it says trust in Yahweh with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths this highlights in the first place entire commitment to our Lord God it says with all your heart not part of your heart not just the religious aspect but with all your heart it's sort of like in first Kings in chapter 18 when Elisha lays down the gauntlet he says if Bale is God then serve Him if y'all way is God then serve Him in other words there can't be this half-hearted Allegiance you can't try to marry Bale with Yahweh and call this your sort of religious therapy you can't do that Jesus says the same thing in Matthew chapter 12 at verse 30 he was not with me is against men so with reference to trust in the Lord it is an entire commitment with all your heart notice as well it's an exclusive commitment he says and lean not on your own understanding in other words you don't know best you don't know what's right therefore you are not to lean on your own understanding you ought to reject all rival objects of guidance and direction but thirdly it is an exhaustive commitment in all your ways acknowledge him not just on Sunday not just in the religious aspect of your life but in all your ways acknowledge him you see that's the trust in God that this first commandment positively in joints upon his people we are to trust in him now turning over to the New Testament again there's obviously a lot of passages that can sort of substantiate each of these particular points I'm just giving you a few specimens a few samples so that hopefully you will pray these things in and get some encouragement but turn to Matthew chapter 6 in terms of the emphasis in the New Testament we have of course the doctrine of justification by faith alone we are to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation we're gonna trust in Jesus Christ for our life eternal we are to understand that by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin rather we are to look unto Jesus the author and finisher of faith we are to go to him we are to wit the hem writer say nothing in my hand I bring simply to thy cross I cling faul I to the fountain fly wash me Savior or I die so we certainly see this trust in God in terms of justification by faith alone but working with a group of people that profess faith in Jesus Christ let's look at the practical aspects of trust in the Lord visa vie the first commandment and it's reference to our lives in Matthew chapter 6 in verses 25 to 34 Jesus cautions his disciples four times do not worry do not worry do not worry do not worry why because when you worry you express a lack of trust in your Heavenly Father when you are paralyzed with carnal anxiety you are expressing an ethic that is more akin to the Gentiles who have no God you are are demonstrating a lack of a faith and confidence in your father to provide for you so four times the emphasis in Mathew 6:25 234 is do not worry and specifically he says don't worry about food drink clothing and tomorrow don't worry about food drink clothing in tomorrow now Jesus isn't saying lay down on your couch and you know just have a nice snooze and when you wake up there'll be food they'll be clothing they'll be torille all those sorts a he's not saying that the passage should be rested out of its contact to teach indolence or laziness or apathy you know God's gonna provide for me so I don't need to get a job God's going to provide for me so I'll just go where the wind takes me that's falling the Bible does not tell you to do that the Bible does not tell you to not work and just trust in God you trust in God and find a job you trust in God and get up on Monday morning you trust in God you show up you trust in God you don't question your employer you trust in God you do what you're supposed to do you trust in God and you collect your paycheck you trust in God for these things but in terms of carnal anxiety and this panic that sets in and this fretting and this worried that he is condemning here it betrays a lack of trust in God so he says don't worry about food drink clothing and tomorrow he says I want you to study the burns I want you to study the lilies I want you to understand that the way God provides for them he's going to provide for you you're far more important again you know the God haters in our day hate this stuff right when we say man is more important than animal oh you can't say that meat is murder meat is not murder you cannot murder a non image-bearer of the Living God meat is good the Lord gave it to us to enjoy according to 1st Timothy chapter 4 if you decide not to eat meat that's up to you but do not blame God or do not say that some how animals bear the image of God we shouldn't be vicious to them we shouldn't be unkind I mean I guess the whole concept of eating them betrays that but you know what I mean we shouldn't abuse them needlessly but God provided them for us so the upon the Lord Christ tells us look at those lilies look at those birds if God provides for them is he gonna let his blood-bought children go naked is he gonna let his blood-bought children starve to death no of course not he says do not live like the Gentiles who have a godless philosophy of life I'm just sort of summarizing rather than running through each and every jot and tittle yeah and then he says do live like rather do live like the children of a Heavenly Father knowing that he cares for you so you see we have this trust in God specifically justification by faith alone but we have this daily trust in God where we're not worried errs to the point where we're engaged in Carl anxiety now for those of you who have mastered this you can email me how you've come to this this is a passage I need to reflect on off that was another thing inculcated in my youth I don't know if it was potpourri or if it was my my dear mother but she promoted in me a worrywart and most of you who know me he would say oh yeah you know that's not a surprising statement you get that so Matthew six Jesus is talking to people like me and maybe talking to people like you but the prohibition is do not worry because it expresses or evidences a lack of faith and trust in the living and true God in other words we as God's people may not be the most composed we may not be the most secure and we may not be the most stable but we're not the least stable the least secure and the one who is ridden with panic and with distress and then finally the worship the proper worship of God now we are going to deal with this in more detail when we get to the second commandment because if you ask the question what does the Bible say concerning worship we see the first two Commandments the first commandment tells us who we are supposed to worship and the second commandment tells us how we are to worship Him there is a close connection between the first two Commandments so we need to know who the living and true God and we need to know how without images without innovation without creativity without the sorts of things that persons want to engage in today but rather we are to obey God as I mentioned in the morning our were supposed to pray the word preach the word read the word sing the word and see the word the worship of the living and true God is word based in his word focused in his word centric because you saw for God reminds them in Deuteronomy chapter 4 but rather you heard his voice and so God prescribes true worship he tells us how we are to approach him he tells us how we are to worship Him and we are not free or at liberty to change that to twist it to distort it to add to it or to take away from it Deuteronomy 12 32 is very specific in this regard a way that we can sort of remember God's approach to worship is we're not to do anything more anything less or anything else than what God has commanded much of what passes today for Christian worship is actually strange fire and that comes from Leviticus chapter 10 in Leviticus chapters 1 to 9 God gives detailed minut legislation for the way that Israel is to approach him in fact most readers of the Book of Leviticus by the time they get to chapter 3 are thinking is this ever going to come to a conclusion well there's a reason for it there's a method for this I've mentioned before God Shekinah glory comes and dwells in the midst of Israel at the end of the book of Exodus but nobody can go in there nobody can approach God and when we get to Leviticus this is the prescription for how sinful man can now approach a holy God and it's through a bloody knife and a smoking altar so that's what Leviticus 1 to 9 stipulates at the end of Leviticus chapter 9 they present a proper worship God sends fire down and consumes the sacrifice and the people rejoice do Leviticus chapter 10 nade a band a by who offer up strange fire they were innovative they were creative they departed from the written word and they went on their own they were renegade they were maverick they perhaps thought well you know Yahweh like what we just presented certainly he'll like what we present now well God sent fire but this time it didn't consume the sacrifice it consumed native an abaya and that underscores this reality that when it comes to the public worship of God we do not have the right as creature to determine and define how we will worship we have the obligation as creature to obey creator and approach in the way that he has mandated and hopefully the Lord willing we'll see that as we look through the tough as we move through the second commandment in the coming weeks well in conclusion just a couple of thoughts and then we'll pray first with reference to this first commandment you shall have no other gods before me there is a consistent and universal condemnation of idolatry in the Bible all sin is bad every sin deserves God's wrath and curse both in this life and that which is to come make make no mistake about it but if we had to say are there some sins that God seems to really be at war against idolatry would certainly be in the top one in that particular list idolatry is an offense and it is an abomination to the true and living God this is what Israel descended into over and over again in fact turn to Deuteronomy chapter 6 Deuteronomy chapter 6 after the Shema hear o Israel Shema simply means hear or listen the Lord our God the Lord is one you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength he then enjoins upon the people of Israel to apply this individually familiarly familiarly and societally and then he gives specific cautions against disobedience in verses 10 and following the first is verse 10 to 13 danger of forgetting God because of affluence in other words when they got into the land and it was profuse and it was full of abundance and it was full of milk and honey they had the tendency to forget God it's an unfortunate thing but again proverbs 30 give me neither poverty or riches if I'm rich I might forget God so he's cautioning am i cautioning them against that and then notice in verses 14 and 15 danger of abandoning God because of Sir pounding idolatry in other words guard your hearts and then the last section danger of doubting God because of hardship so these were the particular cautions given by God through Moses on the plains of Moab so that when they go into the Promised Land they do not defect they do not apostatized they do not reject or it resists the true and living God now we know because we've read it that they do precisely that we know that they go into the land and they forget the God who has given them abundance we know that they go into the land and they engage in idolatry in fact that's the reason for the mandate of holy war in Deuteronomy 7 look at this verse 1 when the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess and has cast out many nations before you the Hittites and the girgashites and the amorite and the Canaanites and the perizzites and the Hittites and the jebusites seven nations greater and mightier than you and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them you shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them nor shall you make marriages with them you shall not give your daughter to their son nor take their daughter for your son for they will turn your son sons away from following me to serve other gods so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly but thus you shall deal with them you shall destroy their altars and break down their sacred pillars and cut down their wooden images and burn their carved images with fire you're not supposed to enter into political alliance with the Canaanites you're not supposed to enter into social alliance with the Canaanites and you are certainly not supposed to enter in to religious alliance with the Canaanites idolatry is bad when we look at first kings what happens with Solomon he violates the prohibition God gave to Kings in terms of multiplying wives he multiplies wives and what do those wives do they turn his heart away from the living and true God to their gods so idolatry is universally condemned in the Bible in the prophet Isaiah he mocks idolatry the prophet Isaiah speaks of the idolatry goes into the into the woods and he cuts down tree and he and he brings some of that wood he makes a fire so that he can roast what he took in hunting and he warms himself with that fire and then with a bit of that wood he makes an idol and he boughs down to it Isaiah the prophet highlights the futility involved in idol making Paul the Apostle does this in Romans chapter 1 he shows that they exchanged the Creator or they worship the creature rather than the Creator they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for that which is corruptible remember it's the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men certainly those acts of unrighteousness or horrific he condemns all the vices of the Gentile world at that particular time but the root the place from whence these things spring is that although they knew God they did not honor God nor were their hearts thankful so their ungodliness preceded this or these acts of unrighteousness how does John and the First Epistle my little children I want you to be happy healthy and whole no my little children I want you to have health wealth and prosperity no my little children I want you to just have therapy for the rest no my little children keep yourselves from idols and in the context in first John probably the idol that is most conspicuously highlighting is the idol of a false Christ the anti-christian sort of drivel or Drecker or heresy that teaches that Jesus didn't come in the flesh that Jesus is not Messiah so he says my little children keep yourselves from idols typically when I preach against or on idolatry not on in a favorable way I quote John Stott from his commentary on the book of Acts and I think this is most excellent he says all idolatry whether ancient or modern primitive or sophisticated is inexcusable whether the images are metal or mental material objects of worship or aren't worthy concepts in the mind see I think there's this idea that you know as long as we're not bowing to a pole we're bowing to Iraq we're bowing to our money that we're not el-tee brethren if we construct a false christs if we have a false idea of God that's why the very first point of applica was the knowledge of God if you don't know the triune God if you don't understand his perfections if you don't understand the external works of the true and living God what God are you worshiping the Jesus that is preached in some churches bears little resemblance to the Jesus of the of the pages of Holy Scripture he said it's not just bowing down to some construct that we have made it's bowing down to a false idea of who God is or of who Jesus is and I think that this brings this out well he says for idolatry is the attempt either to localize God confining him within the limits which we impose whereas he is the creator of the universe or to domesticate God I really think this happens I really think there's a lot of people out there trying to domesticate God why do you think absolute comprehensive sovereignty bothers people because they can't domesticate that God they can't put him in a box they can't control him he is too big for them and so they reject great swathes of holy scripture so that they can in turn tried to domesticate him try to put him on a chain try to make him a harmless little pussycat that we can play with and trot out when we are so inclined he goes on to say or to domesticate God making him dependent on us taming him whereas he is the sustainer of human life or to alienate God blaming him for his distance and silence whereas he is the ruler of nations and not far from any of us or to de throne God demoting him to some image of our own contrivance our craft whereas he is our father from whom we derive our being in brief all idolatry tries to minimize the gulf between the creator and his creatures if you get that you will understand why it is so offensive to be an idolatry in order to bring him under our control more than that it ashle reverses the respective positions of God and us so that instead of our humbly acknowledging that God has created and rules us we presume to imagine that we can create and rule God he says there is no logic in idolatry it is a perverse topsy-turvy expression of our human rebellion against God I think that's a hundredfold Amen worthy now star was not without his issues I understand that he had some you know problems at the end of his life I'm not saying go out and read everything that john stott ever wrote but that comment from act 17 is right on there is that attempt to change God into the image of man there is that attempt in man to try to make God something that we can control that's the essence of idolatry it is to jettison the truth as it is in Scripture and a fashion of God after our own desire as well we need to understand the normative use of the first word the normative use that means the normal day in and day out practice of the Christian how do we as God's blood-bought children those cleansed in the blood of Jesus those justified freely by grace those possessing the Holy Spirit and possessed by the spirit how do we respond to the first commandment not to be saved we are saved by God's grace so how do we show obedience with reference to this commandment first we are to reject false gods my little children keep yourselves from idols now I do not suppose for a moment that some of you go home and fashion idols in your basement and bow down to them and maybe you do but that's never arisen in my mind but where I would see the danger is the internet and I'm not saying the Internet's an idol see what I'm gonna bout to say I'm not saying the internet is bad vicious vile I am saying that the Internet is a means by which heresy is propagated in other words I think the problem facing God's people in terms of first John 5:21 my little children keep yourselves from idols is a false understanding of who God is and there is no shortage of men out there and women teaching who God isn't and if you are not careful if you are not confessional if you are not biblical you are susceptible to being an idolaters an ethernet is false any thought concerning Christ that is false and he thought concerning sovereignty grace salvation that is false you run the risk of becoming an idolaters fashioning a God who is more akin to your liking I mentioned this earlier today in our culture people don't like the fact that the Bible condemns certain things well brethren the bible does condemn certain things and we have to be faithful in the condemnation not because we hate people but because God Most High is holy God Most High is unchanging and God Most High has spoken so we are not to say well it's okay for instance something that is going on right now to let women preach Paul says unequivocally in 1st Timothy chapter 2 I do not allow a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man now for me I don't know how much clearer the Apostle could be I don't know how anybody could try and wriggle out of the clear obvious implication that we're not supposed to let women teach or exercise authority over a man but lo and behold there's a whole host of professing Christians people that say they're believers churches that say they're serving the Lord God Most High that have women preachers this is idolatry it is fashioning a God that is more akin to our culture and to our societal norms then then he is revealed in Holy Scripture we need to be careful secondly we need to express allegiance to the Creator rather than the creature that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the creature that doesn't mean we can't enjoy marriage we can't enjoy a good steak I'm thinking first Timothy chapter 4 but when we put any teacher before God we have violated and transgressed the commandment thirdly we need to cultivate the knowledge of God we need to understand this god james durham and his commentary on the ten commandments says with reference to the commandment it requires the right knowledge of god for there can be no true worship given to him there can be no right thought or conception of him or faith in him till he be known he must be known to be one god in essence Deuteronomy 6:4 and three persons first John 5:7 he must be known in his attributes and essential properties infiniteness immenseness unchangeableness eternity omnipotence omniscience wisdom goodness justice and faithfulness he must be known in his special works whereby his sovereignty and majesty appears as his works of creation Providence Redemption and what concerns it as the covenant of grace in its terms the mediator in his offices no service or worship can be offered to God nor can we have any ground to faith in him without some measure of distinct knowledge of these now brethren that doesn't mean you have to have all of this right now I think sometimes believers get disagree well I don't know all that stuff and it seems like a tall order to start reading your Bible pick up our confession of faith investigate chapter 2 in that confession investigate the sections and the three forms of unity that speak concerning who God is in terms of his a tri unity in terms of his perfections in terms of his external words yeah the acquisition of knowledge isn't gonna happen with one sermon or one sort of brief read of the Bible it's a lifelong sort of a thing great are the works of the Lord there studied by all who delight in them but to actually honor the commandment we need to understand who God is as well there ought to be a manifestation in the hearts of God's people of love to fear of trust in and worship of the true and living God so that's the normative you know pedagogically what does the law of God in this particular commandment teach us if we're not believers it teaches us how much we need Jesus it teaches us how bad we are it teaches us how far astray we are in the language of the Heidelberg catechism how do we come to know or how do you come to know your misery the law of God tells me a man by the name of Bach mule says the first commandment is always a call to repentance because we're rarely single-minded in our commitment to God the commandment taken seriously produces the response God be merciful to me the sinner so if you're not a believer in Jesus Christ tonight that is the first order of business believe on it look to Christ in faith that is the way of salvation and then embrace this blessing wonderful commandment that calls us to allegiance to the God who is absolutely worthy of allegiance well let us close in a word of Prayer father thank you for your word thank you for these Commandments thank you for that you've not left us in this world to try and figure things out not so many people around us have that mindset you've given us the word of the Living God you've given a scripture you've given us all things necessary for for faith and practice and we rejoice in that help us God to meditate upon these things help us to increase in our knowledge of who you are and to respond with that that love and fear and obedience and trust and and and that worship that you sanctioned that you call for in Holy Scripture I pray that you would go with us now that you would continue to watch over your people that you would encourage and strengthen our hearts and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation you