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israel stays at sinai for 11 months in real time so from exodus 19 1 to numbers 10 and they stay there for 57 chapters in narrative time this is important given the fact that this that 68 chapters precede sinai and 59 chapters follow it so sinai is central to the torah so the giving of the law is as he says central in the life of israel we're going to be here for a little while i spoke with mike kirkpatrick today and he said will you go through each one of the commandments singly and i said yes of course i will so we've gone through this material before i hope we go through it a lot more as long as i'm here because it's important for us to have a good understanding of the law of god so our focus tonight will be verses one and two which is the preface to the ten commandments so we'll look at the preface to the ten commandments and then secondly the uses of the ten commandments and then finally the uniqueness of the ten commandments i may also refer to them as the decalogue which literally means ten words so they are synonymously called the ten commandments in a couple places and then the words are ten words in other places so decalogue is another way to identify what we find here in exodus 20 and then in deuteronomy chapter 5. so i'll read the chapter and then as i said we'll focus on verses 1 and 2. and god spoke all these words saying i am the lord your god who brought you out of the land of egypt out of the house of bondage you shall have no other gods before me you shall not make for yourself a carved image any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water unto the earth you shall not bow down to them nor serve them for i the lord your god i'm a jealous god visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but showing mercy to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments you shall not take the name of the lord your god in vain for the lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain remember the sabbath day to keep it holy six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the sabbath of the lord your god in it you shall do no work you nor your son nor your daughter nor your male servant nor your female servant nor your cattle nor your stranger who is within your gates for in six days the lord made the heavens and the earth the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day therefore the lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the lord your god is giving you you shall not murder you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor you shall not covet your neighbor's house you shall not covet your neighbor's wife nor his male servant nor his female servant nor his ox nor his donkey nor anything that is your neighbors now all the people witnessed the thunderings the lightning flashes the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking and when the people saw it they trembled and stood afar off then they said to moses you speak with us and we will hear but let not god speak with with us lest we die and moses said to the people do not fear for god has come to test you and that his fear may be before you so that you may not sin so the people stood afar off but moses drew near the thick darkness where god was then the lord said to moses thus you shall say to the children of israel you have seen that i have talked with you from heaven you shall not make anything to be with me gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves an altar of earth you shall make for me and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings your sheep and your oxen in every place where i record my name i will come to you and i will bless you and if and if you make me an altar of stone you shall not build it of hume stone for if you use your tool on it you have profaned it nor shall you go up by steps to my altar that your nakedness may not be exposed on it amen so we find ourselves in the central spot of the book of exodus in terms of a sort of a homiletical or preaching outline you have deliverance god saves or redeems his people in chapters 1 to 18 and then you have demand god commands his people in chapters 20 to 24 and then you have dwelling chapters 25 to 40. god gives detailed legislation concerning the construction of the tabernacle such that he can dwell in the midst of his people as dale ralph davis says the god of the bush exodus 3 is the god of the mountain exodus 19 and following and he is the god of the tent who dwells with his people in chapters 25 to 40. so as i said tonight we're going to look at the preface to the decalogue second the use of or uses of the decalogue and then finally the uniqueness of the decalogue i should tell you there's a bit of difference in terms of the way that men treat this passage roman catholic roman catholics and lutherans combined the first and second commandments and then they split the tenth so they end up with ten commandments but their structuring system is a little bit different than ours so they they combine one and two and then they split the tenth so that you not you shall not covet your uh neighbor's house and then your neighbor's uh wife are two separate commands again it's the same data probably some theological concerns for why they do what they do other than the fact that they're miserable wretches just kidding wanted to make sure everybody was alert and awake and alive and ready to go well let's look first at the preface to the decalogue and there's three things to observe notice the identity of the law giver second the activity of the law giver and then finally the graciousness of the law giver notice god spoke all these words according to verse one the ten commandments are oftentimes referred to as the law of moses that's not altogether bad as long as we understand that it was moses who mediated that law moses didn't originate it moses didn't come up with it moses didn't invent it god uh god was the author and the maker of it moses the giver and minister of it from god so we need to appreciate that god spoke all these words saying because oftentimes persons have an axe to grind with the law of moses and they blame moses well god is the author moses was simply the instrument by which god communicated his law to israel notice as well not only is he the giver of the law but it underscores the god who is giving the law notice in verse 2 i am the lord your god so god has the authority to command because he is overall and as i mentioned last week much of this is a covenantal document and in a covenantal document the one making the covenant oftentimes rehearses his history with the persons he's making the covenant with and you see that same sort of motif here he emphasizes that he is the one who brought them out of the land of egypt out of the house of bondage so he rehearses their history together and that underscores again his authority but as well the fact that he is their covenant god when you see what the new king james does in verse two capital l capital o capital r capital d that is the the tetragrammaton the four letters revealed by god at the burning bush we typically call that or we refer to that name as yahweh well the new king james simply translates yahweh or every use of that with these all caps with reference to lord so when you see all caps lord think yahweh the covenant god and this use of the name yahweh and the reference to your uh uh uh your god underscores the relationship that the father that that god has with these particular people and with reference to that covenant name yahweh stephen charnock says it signifies his immutability as well as his eternity it highlights something of who god is god is ultimately a spirit as we'll see even more vividly in john chapter four but each of the names given uh given to god are revealed to us by god show us something about him territon says but since eternal existence omnipotent power and immutable truth belongs to god alone the name jehovah or yahweh which embraces all these three ought to be peculiar to him alone and bavink says yahweh describes him as the one who in his grace remains forever faithful that's a good way to understand that i am the lord your god and then notice in terms of his activity it is redemption it is deliverance in other words all that has preceded in chapters 1 to 18 sets the stage for what comes now in terms of demand god graciously redeems his people out of the house of bondage and at that vantage point he then gives them law on how they are to conduct themselves as they enter into their tenure in the land notice his personal involvement with them i am the lord your god who brought you out of the land of egypt out of the house of bondage now as we have gone through this particular book we have noted several things that are interesting about this deliverance go back to chapter 2 for just a moment to see something of god's heart toward this people in exodus chapter 2 notice in verse 23 now it happened in the process of time that the king of egypt died then the children of israel groaned because of the bondage and they cried out and their cry came up to god because of the bondage so god heard their groaning and god remembered his covenant with abraham with isaac and with jacob and god looked upon the children of israel and god acknowledged that so they're crying out here not in repentance they're crying out not because they're sorrowful over their sin they're crying out because they're in pain they're suffering they're under bondage they have oppression in terms of pharaoh they have a an extermination process that they have just witnessed in terms of the the the elimination of the firstborn so they cry out to god not from the experience of of of genuine sorrow over sin but out of pain and misery and and thus god hears that same thing in chapter three at verse seven i've surely seen the oppression of my people who are in egypt and have heard their cry because of their task masters for i know their sorrows i think that's all very comforting and encouraging information for the people of god today because god hasn't changed god hears the cries and sees the sorrows and he pities those who are going through the various afflictions and hardships that we suffer in this lower world same thing in chapter 6 at verse 5 and i have also heard the groaning of the children of israel whom the egyptians keep in bondage and i have remembered my covenant so he observed israel's sufferings and he acted on their behalf he acted providentially he acted powerfully and he acted personally in order to deliver them from that oppression in order to deliver them from that tyranny so he sees their sufferings and then he engages his own activity in terms of deliverance notice again in chapter 20 at verse 2 who brought you out of the land of egypt out of the house of bondage he does so to display his glory he does so to display his power we saw that as we moved up until this particular point god does this to crush the oppressor god does this to save his children but god does this as well to demonstrate that he alone is the living and true god remember in exodus chapter 12 at verse 12 he not only executes judgment upon egypt and pharaoh but against the gods of egypt to show and demonstrate that there is but one only the living and the true god as well he delivers his people from their bondage because of the covenant made with abraham we've seen that in a couple of instances just in reading now but turn again back to chapter 6 where it's developed even more fully exodus chapter 6 i read verse 5 notice verse 6 therefore say to the children of israel i am the lord i will bring you out from under the burdens of the egyptians i will rescue you from their bondage and i will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments i will take you as my people and i will be your god and you shall know that i am the lord your god who brings you out from under the burdens of the egyptians and i will bring you into the land which i swore to give to abraham isaac and jacob and i will give it to you as a heritage i am the lord so god makes good on his promises we've been together in this room on wednesday night for however long in the pentateuch we've seen in genesis on several occasions where god promises the patriarchs abraham isaac and jacob that he would give them the land of canaan it would be their inheritance it would be the place for them to take root and to live and to worship the true and living god he has delivered them from the bondage he is delivering them from all of the wanderings in the wilderness and he will bring them safe and secure to that land that he had promised and then in terms of the graciousness of the law giver if you look at the particular order that we find the text in notice it's not demand and then the the gift rather it's the gift and then the command god saves god redeems god delivers israel and then god demands from them or gives them promises now that is somewhat parallel to the new covenant but the new covenant even is exceedingly more glorious than than the old covenant because much of their uh uh tenure in the land was dependent upon their own faithfulness to the covenant last week i said that this covenant was in fact a covenant of works insofar as they were faithful they benefited when they were unfaithful they were cursed well in the new covenant it's only grace it's blessing it's provision it's it's all that god has promised in terms of the the life and the death and the resurrection of our lord jesus but nevertheless you see that similar pattern here god first underscores his grace and then he gives them the law walter kaiser says the law giver places his law in the environment of grace for it was his gracious act of redemption and deliverance from egypt that revealed his name yahweh so in that context i am the lord your god who brought you out of the land of egypt out of the house of bondage now this then is how you are to live so he's not saying at this point do this and then i will deliver you from the house of bondage do this and then i will free you from the oppression that you find yourself in egypt no god does that again not in response to their repentance from sin not in response to their covenant faith faithfulness not in response to anything but according to his good pleasure according to his free will according to the love that he had the uh sent upon that so he redeems them and then he commands them and the ten commandments now follow the westminster larger catechism makes this statement concerning the preface the preface to the ten commandments is contained in these words i am the lord thy god which had brought thee out of the land of egypt out of the house of bondage wherein god manifests his sovereignty which he does he has authority to speak the law in the hearing of these people and demand their obedience wherein god manifests his sovereignty as being jehovah the eternal immutable and almighty god having his being in and of himself and giving being to all his words and works and that he is a god in covenant as with israel of old so with all his people who as he brought them out of their bondage in egypt so he delivers us from our spiritual thraldom and that therefore we are bound to take him for our god alone and to keep all his commandments again the response to god's grace in terms of the new testament counterpart is obedience not unto salvation but obedience because we have been saved that is a blessed feature of the christian religion it's not the command and then the benefit it's the benefit and then the command if we want to speak in grammatical categories you have the indicative what god has done in the gospel of our salvation on the heels of that comes the imperative or the command on how then we are to live every other religion inverts that order the command or the imperative comes first and then comes the reward or the benefit do this and you shall live no in the new testament in terms of the covenant of grace it's christ has done this look unto him and live and when by grace you do that now christ points you to his law not as a means for salvation but as a description of your sanctification a pattern for the life that you are to pursue in terms of your gratitude to god for his having given you the grace to deliver you from your guilt and your misery now let's look secondly at the uses of the decalogue or the uses of the ten commandments and there are three and if you attend the confession studies or you've been around for any time you'll probably know these but i think it bears repetition in the first place there is what's called the civil or political use of the law civil or political use of the law what that essentially means is is that god restrains his creature mueller says the political or civil use according to which the law serves the commonwealth or body politic as a force and here it is for the restraint of sin so in its broadest use in terms of mankind as a whole the law of god restrains turn to first timothy chapter one we won't look at every tax that underscores each of these uses but some of the key tax because again i think it's very helpful for us to know how to use god's law because we can use it unlawfully if we are not careful first timothy chapter 1 verse 8. notice what the apostle says we'll just put it in its larger context verse 3 as i urged you when i went into macedonia remain in ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith so why does paul send timothy to ephesus because there's problems there timothy was the the 18 that was sent in to set things in order he's the apostles right-hand man and so the apostle sends him there because there's things that are disorderly verse 5. now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart from a good conscience and from sincere faith from which some having strayed have turned aside to idle talk now notice desiring to be teachers of the law understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm just because somebody says they're a bible teacher or teacher or they say they're a teacher of the law it doesn't necessarily make it so i may say that i'm a unicorn but if i don't have a horn and i can't fly it isn't necessarily so there are persons that are arrogant there are persons that are proud there are persons that are incompetent that want to take to themselves titles that they have no business taking to themselves i mean should i point us to our political class we have some of the greatest fools leading us that the world has ever seen now notice what he says in verse 8 but we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully so the law is good this echoes what paul says in romans chapter 7. but he know but notice the qualification if one uses it lawfully well how does one use the law unlawfully well a gospel preacher would stand up and say if you obey the ten commandments then you will be saved that's an unlawful use of the law man fallen in adam cannot obey that law in the manner in which god commands it needs to be entire it needs to be exact it needs to be perpetual and it needs to be personal obedience to the law every jot and tittle so no man and adam is fit and able to do that if it were the case then christ died in vain so if a preacher says keep the law unto salvation that preacher is using the law unlawfully that's why it's important that we know the right use of the law now notice what he says and he's speaking in a confined and narrow context here this isn't everything that the apostle paul has to say about the law it's just not but it does underscore the civil or political use notice we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully knowing this that the law is not made for a righteous person now what's he speaking to haven't i mentioned the normative use aren't i going to end up there in a few moments and say that the law is for the christian when jesus prays sanctify them by thy truth thy word is truth part of that truth is the law and the normative use of the law is justified freely by grace sinners living empowered by the spirit obeying that law well that's not what paul has in mind here again not every passage where certain words are are found deal with every single concept connected to those words everybody get that i've been you know accused before and preaching an hour sermon and then person saying well you didn't mention anything about that yeah it's only an hour and that was probably way too much for most of the people that were there anyway you can never get to everything all at once so the apostle is speaking in a particular situation but what does he mean knowing this that the law is not made for a righteous person well in this particular usage the righteous person means anyone living in external conformity to the law whether christian or non-christian i think the best way to sort of describe this are counterfeiting laws that's not made for us right we're not counterfeiters like i don't think any of us are i've never actually heard anybody cop to that one in my time as a as a pastor so i i use an outland outlandish thing he's talking about again a specific situation that was present in ephesus he's not dealing with a comprehensive catalog of the various and multi-faceted uses of the law rather he is dealing with one particular use and in this context it's the civil or the political use wherein the law restrains man it's given not for the righteous person but for the unrighteous to restrain them to give parameters to them notice he goes to the ten commandments he says but for the lawless and in subordinate for the ungodly and for sinners for the unholy and profane for murderers of fathers and murderers and 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 brethren that is the decalot that's exactly what paul appeals to george knight in his commentary shows that each of these particular terms answers consistently to one of the ten commandments and so the point in this particular passage is that the civil use of the law restrains sin if there were no law if there were no restraint this would be hell on earth we think it's bad wait until you well hopefully none of us will ever see hell but that's going to be the place where there is no restraint over the sin of man so the civil or political use second is the pedagogical use the child tudor use pedagogue just means that and basically this means the use of the law for the confrontation and refutation of sin and for the purpose of pointing the way to christ in other words we preach the law to sinners so that sinners will see their need for jesus the heidelberg catechism asks the question how do you know your sin and misery the law of god tells me so in other words when i look at the ten commandments it ought not to be the case that i pat myself on the back for having done such a great job when we look at the ten commandments we should see especially our need for the lord jesus christ turn to matthew's gospel for just a moment matthew chapter 5. matthew chapter 5 we could look at any number of passages but just one of them matthew chapter 5 at verse 48 therefore you shall be perfect just as your father in heaven is perfect now typically when preachers preach that they try to soften it well it doesn't really mean perfect it you know complete or whole ah it really means perfect the sermon on the mount is law see when people say all we need to do is live according to the sermon on the mount they're telling you they're rejecting the gospel they want to live by the law now the law in the sermon on the mount doesn't sound like the thundering of sinai but it's the thundering of sinai that's what jesus is doing yes he's teaching his disciples who are justified freely by his grace how they're supposed to live in terms of the normative function but he's also addressing the multitudes who have drawn nigh to him in order to hear the way of salvation so he wants to show them their sin and their need for redemption through his blood so if we hear the sermon on the mount and it has no no gospel it has no pointing to christ then we're missing the point matron said the sermon on the mount rightly interpreted then makes a man a seeker after some divine means of salvation by which entrance into the kingdom can be obtained the sermon on the mount like all the rest of the new testament really leads a man straight to the foot of the cross this is the pedagogical use of the law martin lloyd jones saw the same thing he says there is nothing that so utterly condemns us as the sermon on the mount there is nothing so utterly impossible so terrifying and so full of doctrine indeed i do not hesitate to say that were it not that i knew of the doctrine of justification by faith only i would never look at the sermon on the mount because it is a sermon before which we all stand completely naked and all together without hope now if you're reading the sermon on the mount and that has not been your experience you're not reading it properly when he comes to expound the sixth commandment he doesn't just say if you stop somebody's heart from beating you are guilty of the law no if you are angry or you hate your brother without cause when he comes to deal with the seventh commandment he's not talking about going into your neighbor's wife he says if you have lust in your heart who of us comes from the sermon on the mount congratulating ourselves it is a law sermon designed to show people the necessity for the lord jesus turn to matthew chapter 19. matthew chapter 19 specifically at verse 16. now behold one came to uh 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 and 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've kept from my youth what what do i still lack jesus said to him if you want to be perfect go sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me when the young man heard that saying he went away sorrowful for had great posse possessives what's the point the guy actually deluded himself that he had the second table laws pretty well done well he had forgotten the tenth commandment that's why jesus says go sell everything you have give it to the board and then follow me that was the crushing blow that was the conviction for sin i think i've told you before some speculate that's paul the apostle the older i get the longer i live the more merit that particular argument has with me in romans 7 the apostle says i would not have known covetousness or i would not have known lust unless the law said you shall not covet again i would never die on this ill i wouldn't go to battle for this particular position but it's not a position without merit pulse age paul's time frame paul's everything could have been such that he found himself in this particular situation but either way this is what jesus is doing he's preaching the law to the rich young ruler so that the rich young ruler can appreciate his need for blood atonement and then one final text with reference to this one romans chapter three probably the clearest in terms of just an absolute statement romans 3 we'll summarize at verse 19. now we know that whatever the law says it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before god therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin couldn't be couldn't be more simple right see how paul does that whatever context he's in he speaks with authority doesn't give every single well here's a here's how the reformed is going to understand the law so i'll go ahead and give you the three uses of the law remember systematic theology goes through the bible and calls out the teaching of the bible and puts it into the systematic categories puts it into the various parts of of the the systematic theology so the apostle tells us by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin so you see if a pastor or an evangelist says keep the law and you will be saved they are misusing they are using the law unlawfully and then persons will say but that's what jesus did he's jesus and he was teaching this man something about his sin we don't know what happened after that we don't know the subsequent interactions we just don't know that for us we're not supposed to use the law unlawfully we're supposed to use it lawfully so you've got the civil or political use wherein god restrains the creature from being as wicked and perverse as he can be you have then the pedagogical use of the law which means the law shows sinners their need for jesus augustine said through the law god opens man's eyes so that he sees his helplessness and by faith takes refuge to his mercy and is healed john bunyan made this observation the man who does not know the nature of the law cannot know the nature of sin and he who does not know the nature of sin cannot know the nature of the savior i'd suggest brethren this is one of the reasons for for weak and anemic preaching out there in terms of the cross the significance of the atonement the justice and the righteousness of god all of that is greatly reduced when there's no law preaching when ministers of the gospel don't do the work of showing sinners their need for redemption through jesus christ with the use of the law without the use of the law jesus just becomes an accouterment to an already happy life it's not happiness that that sinners are seeking it's righteousness because they're unrighteous for having broken god's law and they stand and need a blood atonement by our blessed savior so the civil the pedagogical and then the third use of the law is called the normative use of the law the normal use of the law in the lives of god's people mueller again says this pertains to believers in christ who have been saved through faith apart from works in the regenerate life the law no fun longer functions to condemn since it no longer stands over against man as the unreachable basis for salvation but it acts as a norm of conduct freely accepted by those in whom the grace of god works the good in other words we're justified freely by grace we have a whole new view of the law don't we we say with david oh how i love thy law john the apostle says the commandments of god are not burdensome they're not grievous we don't look at the law and say oh what a curse god actually wants me not to murder people oh what a horrible thing god wants me to have a day off and rest in his presence and with his people what a horrible no that's not it at all the christian the regenerate heart now loves the law of god again augustine said the law was given in order that we might seek grace grace was given in order that we might fulfill the law it is a blessed situation francis turreton says before it law was an instrument of the spirit of bondage to throw down and bruise men but afterwards it becomes the instrument of the spirit of adoption to promote sanctification thus the law leads to christ and christ leads us back to the law it leads to christ as the redeemer and christ leads to the law as the leader and director of life it is a blessed uh situation we're not justified by the law but rather we're justified by grace through faith once we've been saved once we've been converted once we've laid hold of the lord jesus jesus says this is the law this is the pattern of what sanctification looks like it's a blessed thing we don't have to try to figure out what pleases god what pleases god is that you have no other gods before him what pleases god is that you don't curse his name what pleases god is that you keep his day holy you're subordinate to lawful authority you don't murder people you don't commit adultery with people you don't steal from people you don't lie about people you don't covet other people's stuff we're not left to wonder what is it that pleases god god has spelled it out for us he has revealed it to us and it is for our benefit now in terms of validating this particular use go to matthew 5. matthew chapter 5. before we get to the the heavy hitting with reference to the specifics of the law jesus gives us hermeneutics of the law in chapter 5 verses 17 and to 20. he says do not think that i came to destroy the law of the prophets i did not come to destroy but to fulfill i think the whole point of the sermon on the mount in this introduction in terms of hermeneutics is because of the word that was out about him right jesus goes out and he starts to preach and he starts to teach and the multitudes all want to come and they want to hear him well the religious leaders are upset by this the religious leaders are wondering what is this man doing i mean the remember on sunday morning i had mentioned in in john 4 jesus had heard that the pharisees knew that he had uh uh baptized more disciples than john the baptist it wasn't just theology that provided a a a a a a a rift between jesus and the and the pharisees and the religious leaders it was politics these men were threatened if this upstart comes and all the multitudes follow him then they're not going to want us so jesus lays down his hermeneutics relative to the law of moses in matthew's gospel 5 17-20 hermeneutical principles and then from 1721 uh 521 and following he applies that law and he doesn't do it even more so than moses ever did but he is simply expounding moses to show them his consistency in terms of old covenant law so back to verse 17 do not think that i came to destroy the law of the prophets i did not come to destroy but to fulfill for assuredly i say to you and fulfill there doesn't mean i fulfill it therefore all those in me don't have to do it people do that with the sabbath oh jesus fulfilled the sabbath so our rest is in jesus so we can do whatever we want on sunday funny we don't apply that with adultery or with murder didn't jesus fulfill not murdering people so i guess under the law of sabbath correspondingly we can go out and kill people nobody argues that way because it's absolute uh insanity but back to the passage when he says fulfill it's not just he fulfills it in terms of his life of obedience but he confirms it he shows it's a validity for us verse 18 for assuredly i say to you till heaven and earth pass away one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled notice whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven this is against antinomians but whoever does and teaches them he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven that's the guy who takes it properly and then he condemns legalism in verse 20 for i say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees you will by no no means enter the kingdom of heaven and there again i think he's underscoring the necessity for blood atonement but notice he's not saying unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of moses and his law it's the scribes and the pharisees that jesus is specifically targeting here remember that they weren't just innocent innocuous people that were seeking truth no they wanted to murder jesus not at this point perhaps but not very far down the road they're going to want to murder him so 5 17 to 20 is crucial in terms of jesus and his hermeneutics concerning the law turn to romans chapter 3. romans chapter 3 underscoring the normative use that once we come to the savior by grace through faith that does not mean that the law has no place in the life of the believer the law has the place in terms of the normative use notice right as he's beginning to to establish justification by faith alone and he's going to develop it more fully in chapter four look at what he says in verse 31 and uh chapter three romans 3 31 do we then make void the law through faith certainly not on the contrary we establish the law and then look at romans chapter 7 romans 7 7 what shall we say then is the law of sin certainly not on the contrary i would not have known sin except through the law for i would not have known covetousness unless the law had said you shall not covet drop down to verse 12. therefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good paul's argument here is that there's nothing wrong with the law there's everything wrong with your heart it's never a problem with the law of god it's always a problem with the sinner and his approach to the law of god but in terms of a concrete application of the normative use of the law look at romans 13 just giving you some of the pro-law statements along the way but notice in romans 13 at verse 8 again god is good what's it mean to be the sanctified christian relative to god well don't be an idolater don't be a blasphemer don't be a sabbath breaker don't be insubordinate to governing authority don't be a murderer don't be adulterous so he spells it out right well he does that in terms of our interpersonal relations as well what's it mean to love the brethren does that mean i need to bring flowers to the brethren does that mean i need to take the brethren out for coffee certainly that could be an application but look at how paul quantifies what love to the brethren is he goes to the decalogue he goes to the ten commandments romans 13 8 owe no one anything except to love one another for he who loves another has fulfilled the law love's not nebulous it's it's not undefined it's not just some sort of a an oozy goosey feeling love is objective obedience to revealed statutes now that doesn't sound romantic when you take your wife out you say honey i'm engaged in this transaction because i love you and this is just evident that's gonna not woo her but in terms of the undergirding principle look at what he says love except to love one another for he who loves another has fulfilled the law now notice verse 9 for the commandments you shall not commit adultery you shall not murder you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness you shall not covet and if there is any other commandment are all summed up in this saying namely you shall love your neighbor as yourself love does no harm to a neighbor therefore love is the fulfillment of the law again we don't typically operate that way here's how my love to you is best expressed i haven't coveted your ox i haven't lane with your you know spouse i haven't stolen your we don't look at it that way but that's what it is brethren we're not left to guess and wonder and scratch our heads and this is a wonderful concrete way to see what it looks like to relate one to another look look at ephesians chapter 6. ephesians chapter 6 at verse 1. children obey your parents in the lord for this is right honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth it's a beautiful thing isn't it it's not undefinable it's not up for grabs it's not i wonder what would be the way to love somebody no it's pretty spelled out again you can throw in the romance you can throw in all the the emotion and all the feeling and all that sort of that stuff but without that foundation of object objectivity or objectively keeping the commandments of god toward one another all the romance and all that other stuff really doesn't matter if we don't have that response in our heart to our fellows then we're not loving them the way that god defines love again first corinthians chapter 13 it's not nebulous it's not undefined it's not just feeling and sentiment it's concrete it's it's objective it's it's tangible it's demonstrable it's stuff you can see and touch and feel and hold and all that sort of thing and then finally the uniqueness of the decalogue you don't have to run through this but the the uniqueness of the decalogue is seen in the threefold division of the law when it comes to the law think of three uses and a threefold division three is a good number in the bible so threefold use if i were to ask you you'd say civil use you'd say pedagogical use and you'd say normative use well there is a three-fold division of the law and the fact that the moral law alone abides underscores the uniqueness of it not that the ceremonial and not that the judicial were not unique in their own right but in terms of the abiding validity of the moral law that underscores the uniqueness of it so we have the moral law of god which is the decalogue which is the ten commandments israel was also given something called the ceremonial law our confession of faith describes it this way besides this law talking about the moral law or the ten commandments besides the moral law commonly called moral god was pleased to give to the people of israel ceremonial laws containing several typical ordinances partly of worship prefiguring christ his graces actions sufferings and benefits and partly holding forth diverse instructions of moral duties all which ceremonial laws being appointed only to the time of reformation the new covenant not the 16th century or the 15 16th century are by jesus christ the true messiah and only lawgiver who is furnished with power from the father for that and abrogated and taken away so christ does fulfill the ceremonies so that they're no longer binding on us they functioned in a way to keep the nation of israel distinct from all the pagans around them but as well like the confession says they prefigured christ the the sacrifice is associated with the levitical priesthood we don't continue in that train we don't continue down that path the use of incense the temple the central sanctuary of deuteronomy 12. we get back to that lady in samaria on uh sunday morning in john 4 she asks about which mountain do we worship on which is the authorized location well that's a question that has context namely deuteronomy chapter 12 israel was not left to go hankering after god wherever they want it they were bound to come to the central sanctuary insofar as they could because god was dealing with a carnal people if he didn't bring them to that central sanctuary they'd go with their buddy to the bail service they would go with their buddy to ashrae they would go with somebody else and sin against god so there was a ceremonial law in place as the confession says until the time of reformation when jesus comes and he fulfills that and then there was what was called the judicial law and as that might suggest judicial law had to do with laws governing the body politic the commonwealth of israel while they lived in the land okay so the judicial law once we finish with exodus 20 you've got the 10 commandments the 10 words the decalogue 10 general principles well then beginning in chapter 21 at verse 1 and following you see those general principles applied concretely in society so it's a case law application of how to use these general principles in day-to-day life in society our confession again with reference to the judicial law to them also he gave sundry judicial laws which expired together with the state of that people not obliging any now by virtue of that institution their general equity only being of moral use so what that means is that the nation of israel was a theocracy yes they had a monarchy but it was god who ruled the people directly and with reference to that body politic as the confession says the laws which governed their tenure in the land ceased to function in that capacity when they were ejected from the land so they don't bind america or canada in the same exact fashion that's why when you know people apply certain bible texts that were unique to covenant israel to america that's not good hermeneutics brethren i mean it's good patriotism and it might make us want to you know wave a flag but we have to be very careful there is not a direct parallel between old covenant israel and america i'm not saying canada because i don't typically hear it in canada but you hear it a lot in america that america is the extension of old covenant israel and god shed his grace on thee now i'm not just uh disputing that god has shed his grace on her uh in a whole host of ways but it is not a directly parallel situation and you have to understand that if you don't understand that you're going to have problems when you read the old testament but with reference to the judicial law this last statement in our confession is most excellent their general equity only being of moral use so in other words if the wisdom of the law is discernible and applicable we can do that for instance when we move through that legislation there is a a a a demand a requirement that you put a fence on your roof typically the roof was flat and it was additional living space well you needed to have a fence up there why so people wouldn't fall off and break their necks because that would violate the spirit of the sixth commandment now you may not have pushed them but negligence could also well negligence does fall under the sixth commandment so you could put a fence up there so boy it wouldn't be great if we had some general equity principle we do when you have a swimming pool you should put a fence around it because if you're negligent and somebody drowns in that you should be criminally responsible for that that's the way i understand this general equity principle so when we look at those case laws as we move through there's going to be things that are specific to an agrarian society that may not obtain there may be things interes uh specifically connected to the cultic system and by cultic there i don't mean jehovah's witness coal test simply refers to the religious observations of a body so there's going to be things connected with the cult that that aren't transferable to us but principles like that or the goring ox the goring ox is fantastic i mean if your ox gets out and gore somebody you may be criminally liable up to and including the death penalty if you knew that your ox had a predilection to goring and you let him out you were in trouble big big trouble i think there's a whole host of application to that with reference to drunk driving with reference to a whole host of things where criminal negligence is obvious so when we move through the judicial law and we think about what the confession and reform theology is all this isn't unique to the baptist they just didn't like the judicial law now that wasn't it at all but there isn't that direct absolute parallel between old covenant commonwealth of israel theocratic people in the land that there is today with canada it's just not the same but in terms of the general equity of the judicial law there is valid warrant for us to use the law of god in society today listen to john gill john gill was one of our baptist predecessors he said this concerning the judicial law i cannot be i cannot but be of opinion that a digest of civil laws might be made out of the bible the law of the lord that is perfect either as lying and express words in it or to be deduced by the analogy of things in cases and by just consequence as would be sufficient for the government of any nation and then there would be no need of so many law books nor of so many lawyers and perhaps there would be fewer lawsuits wouldn't that be wonderful however we christians under whatsoever government we are are directed to submit to every ordinance of man for the lord's sake and for conscience sake even to everyone that is not contrary to common sense and reason and to religion and conscience so he's saying wherever christians happen to live whatever commonwealth they find themselves under romans 13 applies be subordinate to the civil authority he's saying if governments actually put into practice the judicial code of moses they wouldn't be hurt for it how many laws do you think there are in the old testament does anybody know the number not just the 10. 6 13. remember the two they summarize the 10 2 and then the 10 and then 601 more so 613 613 there's probably more than 613 for us to walk from kobold over to uh the hospital you know you can't spit on the sidewalk not all of them are bad necessarily i you know there's laws for every i i couldn't even imagine what the laws governing the nation of canada would look like i i can't even visualize i can't conceptualize 613 is chump change these guys are they're pumping out laws all the time but if those things were applied listen to what gil says here he said it would be he said there would be no need of so many law books nor have so many lawyers and perhaps there would be fewer lawsuits here's what martin luther said now if you know anything about the history of theology luther has been viewed as an antinomian he wasn't but he's been viewed as an antinomian again he wasn't he held to the normative use of the law but he focused on the pedagogical use of the law which shouldn't surprise us because what was luther's big concern justification by faith alone so how do you think luther's going to employ the law he's going to employ it and all of its killing power so that sinners see their need for justification by faith alone makes sense right that's his shtick but luther said this in his commentary on galatians he says nor would it be a sin if the emperor used some of the civil laws of moses in fact it would be a good idea if he did therefore the sophists are in error when they imagine that after christ the civil laws of moses are fatal to us the history of theology some have said oh the judicial laws are so terrible don't have anything to do with them no that's not the way the the reformed have treated it that's not the way the confessions treated it the judicial law served a particular function for the commonwealth of israel now that the commonwealth of israel is that theocratic body politic is no more the argument goes that the judicial law doesn't continue just as they don't but the general equity of it is binding for us today and the reformed have touched on how we know what to apply and how to apply it i think it's brilliant so we've got the threefold division of the law wherein the moral law continues to abide ceremonial judicial no longer abiding in the way that the moral law and then you've got the moral law and the finger of god there are several places in the old testament where it says that the ten commandments were written by the finger of god it's quite intriguing i mean all the law was given to him but again moses didn't you know make up the prohibition against eating jackdaw he didn't just get you know that hey i don't think anybody should eat a jackdaw or or or something like that no no no god gave him that but when it comes to the decalogue of the ten commandments it's written with the finger of god and then the moral law is placed in the art of the covenant and it's again not you know we talk about the two tables of the law by that we mean our duties toward man are a god and then our duties toward man so you've got the first four commandments what we do relative to god the latter six commandments what we do relative to man and i think we have the common perception is that the four are here and the six are here they both contained the ten they both were copies one was the copy of the lord the souza rain and the other copy was the vassal or the subordinate and they're both kept in the ark of the testimony so that they are there for safe keeping and for an abiding documentary evidence that israel is in covenant with yahweh of israel well that is our conclusion and we made it just in time so i'm going to pray and then if anybody has any questions we can deal with that our father in heaven we thank you for your law we thank you for the book of exodus and for the entirety of scripture and how the bible presents the law of god to us we know it's holy we know it's good it's a revelation of your perfections and i pray that we would think properly with it and that we would use it lawfully the way we ought and we ask this through jesus christ our lord amen any questions or comments man i was just yes just for fun the criminal canada so the federal criminal statute although this is the same nothing is civil law and all the other categories there are there are over uh there's 849 sections in it 849 sections special so that's why counting paragraphs all the clauses and everything that's just heading basically and then there's like 50 forms attached built in like to apply for a warrant or something um yeah he said if men will not be ruled by ten commandments they'll be ruled by ten thousand commandments you don't want god there's going to be a rival law giver a rival god yeah i'll take the 613 good night guys yeah well he's up on the mountain until chapter 31. so the first part of the instructions concerning the tabernacle moses moses is on the mount up until chapter 31. and remember he comes down and that's when they're all dancing around the calf so is it like that's like so god gives moses the the the ten commandments and then the judicial law and then the instructions concerning the tabernacle yes yeah it's a uh comprehensive package