As I do with every series, I come to the end with a measure of relief and sadness. I feel some alleviation, because it’s been a sober word, as we’ve seen the holy character of God and a more accurate picture of ourselves. The moral law of God is daunting. Yet, I have some anguish because we’ve barely scratched the surface and God’s Good Law has been a kind instruction for my heart and soul and I hope yours as well.

I’ll summarize our series like this… God graciously moved, worked, and redeemed His people in love and grace. He rescued them out of slavery in Egypt and now from a mountain He speaks and begins to take Egypt and the ways of this world out of their heart. The two tablets of these 10 words are a call to love God and love our neighbor. These laws are not cold dictates from an overlord to win favor; these words are the path to freedom to live in response to a God who loves us. While we are no longer under an Old Covenant that would require us to obey to receive blessing, we are, no doubt, under a New Covenant that affirms and republishes these moral truths to guide our everyday living.

These words and this series bring us to this main idea as we consider the 10^th word, and it is simply this: God is to be our Satisfaction.

One well known Minnesota pastor has famously said, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” This specific phrase, while it should be parsed out and explained carefully, and there’s room to chew on it and make nuanced qualifications, it has been a theological summary for 40 years that has encouraged the Christian imagination to contemplate the relationship between God being elevated and our being satiated, happy, and fulfilled.

This idea is not a 21^st century invention. Names from different faith traditions like: Augustine, Edwards, Aquinas, Calvin, Owen, Lewis … more modern writers like Paul Tripp, Tish Warren, and N.T. Wright, many hold the line of a big God and true Christian joy. These are not merely clever ideas men and women have written about, they are the very fruit of the biblical data.

Our final passage in our series contributes to this dual reality. God’s glory and honor, and your happiness and satisfaction. If God seems small and you wrongly see yourself bigger than you are, if you are here and unhappy, if your desires lead you to frustration or even sin, God has a good and encouraging Word for you.

We’ll be in Exodus 20:17-21, in reverence to God’s Word, a short prayer from Melito of Sardis, a bishop in the 2^nd century who served in western Turkey, pray this with me:

“(Father) You are the rest for those that are departed, the one who recovers the lost, the light of those who are in darkness, the deliverer of those who are captive, the guide of those who go astray, and the asylum of the afflicted.” So meet us and help us now, in Jesus’ name, amen.

Starting in verse 17, God says this to us:

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

This is the reading of God’s Word. We’ll see our satisfaction in God in a few helpful ways from this passage.

First, consider with me: The Shepherd’s Leading. On this point we’ll sit squarely on the 10^th word, the command to not covet. At its core this speaks to the idea of desire and it’s a prohibition on, as some would put it, an ‘inappropriate craving’. It should be stated that not all desiring and coveting is wrong. Psalm 19:9 and 10 state that ‘the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired (or coveted, same word) are they than gold, even much find gold.’ There are many good things we do and should desire.

Yet here, just as we read, we are called to not crave, covet, or desire something that is not ours and something God has not given us. If you look back down at verse 17, we are commanded to not lust after and envy our neighbor’s house, perhaps better understood, we are not to envy our neighbor’s household, the life and the provision he’s been given. Listed immediately after are some examples.

I don’t have enough expertise in the grammar to fully see it, but academics stress that the language of this command was given where both men and women would hear it among God’s people and understand it equally applied to them. Whether it be a spouse, servant, animal or tool, Israel would hear this word and understand that weight of it fell upon the nation collectively and them individually.

Others have stressed that the word ‘covet’ is not truly strong enough to convey the command. It could be understood with more force if we said, we are not to ‘set our heart on something… choose to engage’ and allow our desires ‘govern our actions’ and draw us into sin. It’s an ‘activity of the mind’ that leads to action.

In the unique theocratic era that was Israel under this covenant, a thriving and flourishing people would experience blessing by not coveting, fantasizing and then taking or pursuing what belonged to their neighbor. We would argue this is true in the Natural Law as well, human reasoning and common sense tell us that if we all looked at each other’s lives and provisions and wanted it, we would be land full of discontent thieves.

In the Ancient Near East culture, people would see and take. Instead of celebrating the success of others, instead of recognizing God’s kind provision, they would be jealous, inappropriately desiring, and wishing they had someone else’s life. And for a moment you forgot if we were talking about the Ancient Near East or our world today.

We live in an over sexualized culture, we think of coveting a neighbor’s spouse in those realms. And certainly, that is restricted here, but so is wishing your spouse was more like someone else. If only they were prettier, taller, richer, smarter, more emotionally aware. It’s good to desire health and change in your spouse and in your marriage, but not to wish they were someone else. Jumping back and forth between the apples and oranges of their world and ours, it may not be servants and cattle, but children and cars that we crave.

Have you ever looked in the mirror and wished you had the provisions of someone else? I have. Are we not covetous of how others look, their wit, financial stability, current health status, vocational opportunities, grades in school, skill in sports, the seeming comfort and ease they possess in comparison to our struggle. The command to not covet strikes at the heart of every man, woman, and child here. We long for the household, life, and provision of others.

Is it wrong to desire these things? Not necessarily. But when our desires become corrupted, twisted, and misplaced when we cross the line into inappropriate craving, passion, yearning, and lust. Then, it is a sin against our neighbor because instead of championing God’s kindness in their life, we want to take it and have it for ourselves. No one thrives when we live like that.

As we’ve done in each of the 10 words, aim to ground this command in the character of God. When I covet, I’m hating my neighbor and I’m hating my God. Personally, I’ve struggled mightily with how I look, how I sound, my intellectual limitations, and at times my lot in life. I’ve looked across the way and have believed the lie that the grass in greener on the other side. If only I had what they have.

This is an attack on the character and providence of God. When desires, even good ones, are twisted into craving and coveting, I’m not so subtly telling God He hasn’t done good enough. There must be a mistake in His plans, my neighbor has and I do not. The goodness of God is questioned; He must not be as good as I thought. My thoughts are wrongly elevated, if things went my way it would be better.

Here is the vision we need, David reminds us and reorients our thinking this way:

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake... Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life...” Psalm 23

For God’s glory and for our restoration and satisfaction, God gives us what He gives us. His goodness and mercy are expressed in each of our lives uniquely, may we delight and not covet. Through each of the commands we’ve circled around the idea of contentment and turning from coveting, so we move on.

The tension of God’s honor and glory and our joy continues as we next contemplate: The Holiness of God. Look back down at verses 18 and 19, the 10 words are spoken, and we are reminded of the context of it all as we’re pulled back to the larger narrative taking place. God’s people saw thunder, flashes of lightning, sounds of trumpets, smoke from the mountain. Everyone is afraid, they’re backing up and they say to Moses, ‘You speak to us… do not let God speak to us, lest we die.’

Moses had been up the mountain by himself in Exodus 19, he then comes down to be with the people, they collectively hear the 10 words from God’s own voice, everyone witnesses the dramatic happenings amid it all, and they look to send Moses back up by himself.

I’ll be brief on this because it ties directly into our next point. But stop for a moment and ask yourself why they are responding the way they do. There’s the obvious reality of hearing a booming voice from above, trumpets playing from seemingly nowhere and everywhere. And then the display of power lighting up the sky with fierce bolts and the echoes of crackling thunder that shakes in your bones. Of course it’s all a scary experience. One in which they said they felt like they were going to die, melt, and wither away if they had to stand before it any longer.

What I want us to understand is that God’s voice, the sights and sounds on the mountain, the very words of these 10 words of moral laws, it all represented the presence of God. It was a reminder of God’s grace in redeeming them, they are shown afresh that His ways are an invitation to follow and an invitation to see and know Yahweh.

We are confronted with what we’ve been contemplating in the 2^nd use of the law. God’s laws are a mirror and reveal to us who He is and who we are in our need for a Savior. God speaks, He gives two tablets to call His people to love Him supremely and love their neighbor. Directives are declared: no other God’s, no idols, bear and carry my name rightly, cease and worship. And the people shake, who can love God with that kind of consistency?

The second tablet is equally difficult. Honor fathers, mothers and leaders even when it’s hard. Value life made in God’s image equally, be faithful to your spouse, don’t take what is not yours, be a truth teller, and trust God’s provision in not coveting what someone else has… And the people shake, who can love their neighbor with that kind of integrity?

The Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, display to us a God who is all together separate, holy, good, and pure. Satisfaction and joy are presented to us, and the glory of God consumes us. Where do we go from here?

We’ve covered this in the initial words in our series. Paul aids us by saying this in Galatians 3:24-25:
“So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.”

One of the purposes of the law is that it would act as a guardian, a teacher, or a guide to lead us to Christ and His promises. Israel, sitting at the base of the mountain, hearing God’s words, receiving the preamble to the stipulations under the Mosaic covenant, it was to show them the vast separation between them and God.

Israel felt this, though perhaps they didn’t have good words for it. Look again, at verse 19 of our passage. I’ll read it again.

“they stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

Did you catch it? God, we see the gap, we feel the lack, we recognize your holiness, we need someone to step in our place. We need a mediator who can approach you. We need a leader to guide us. We need a savior.

Now don’t get it twisted, they appeal to Moses, but He is not the Savior. This moment at Sinai, it displayed to God’s people they needed a better Moses. They needed someone to represent them, their sin was too great, God’s call is too high. Who will come?

I know a man. The Scriptures point to and reveal a Savior who came and died on a cross to pay for sins and resurrect to bring you near to the Holy God at His holy mountain.

Moses predicted in Deuteronomy 18 a better prophet would arrive.
Jesus, as a better Moses, went up on the mountain in his sermon on the mount and spoke a fuller word that gets to the heart of Kingdom living.
Jesus is no mere servant in God’s house like Moses, we’re told in Hebrews 3, He is better than Moses as a Son.
The law was given through Moses, John 1:17 says the fulfillment of grace and truth came through Jesus.
Moses was used by God to provide manna for a wandering people, Jesus offers himself, He is the nourishing bread that brings life.
Moses led Israel out of Egypt in a great exodus, on a mountain with the disciples Jesus stands next to Moses and Elijah and speaks of a better departure, a better exodus.
Moses was a man who prayed for his people. The King Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and lives to perfectly intercede for faithful followers of Christ.

You shall not covet, you shall love God and neighbor. Who can do this? The God man, the Lord Jesus Christ, the better Moses. Israel feared God’s perfection and pleaded for Moses to go before them. You and I look at our sinful state and we cling to Christ who grants us access. Praise God!

God is glorified and we are satisfied as we see His shepherding provision, as we respond to His holiness, and lastly, we understand: The Fear to Not Fear.

This wording might strike you as strange, but it’s not my words, blame Moses. Look again at verse 20. Moses tells Israel to not fear, because God is testing, look at this carefully… “Do not fear… that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”

Don’t fear, but fear. What are we talking about here? This can feel like a contradiction until we think about it carefully.

I came across a good Martin Luther quote, the old reformer said this:
“He who merely studies the commands of God is not greatly moved. But he who listens to God commanding, how can he fail to be terrified by majesty so great.”

Moses is telling Israel under the Old Covenant, and he now tells us under the New Covenant, we do not live in dread of God’s holiness. We are not to be crippled by His presence, His lightning and thunder, or the heavy moral laws He lays before us.

But we are to live in a right kind of fear that keeps us from sin. That is precisely what verse 20 is telling us. Ideally, our deep love for God, out of a response of His rescuing and grace, we would be properly motivated to obey at all times. But that grace and even the terrifying moment of that mountain are not enough to keep us from sin. We are to live in a constant awe, reverence, and fear of turning from God and His ways.

An illustration might help us here.
I have many deficiencies as a father but am generally very tender and loving toward my children. And I have a law in the home as it relates to honoring, caring, and serving the queen in our home, my wife Lisa. Now, my children have never heard me scream or yell, I don’t hit or cruelly punish them. There is a lot of talk about how I’m clearly frustrated when peanut butter is all over the outside of the jar, or the fridge isn’t organized…

I would hope out of their delight and love for me as a father, recognizing how much I’ve done for them, how much I care for them, how much I sacrifice for them… that they would be motivated to obey the great two laws of the Nagel home to love God and love their mother.

Yet they are not, there is a right kind of fear… not dread, not fright, not alarm, not terror… but a reverence that if they harm their mother, they have hurt my wife and will have to talk with me.

I think you get the point.

Far greater than the dynamics at home, faithful followers of Christ are to not dread God, but to fear Him. Healthy fear Exodus 20:20 keeps us from sin. Healthy fear warns us that is we choose disaster, if we live contrary to God’s ways, we will ruin our lives and then answer to Him.

In Proverbs 1:7 we find Solomon saying it this way:
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Only a fool turns from wisdom and instruction, only a fool rejects knowledge, only a fool would reject the fear of Yahweh. To turn from sin and follow God’s ways in the Scriptures, it is to pay Him appropriate honor and trust that it will go well with us and we will enjoy Him.

Whether it is coveting or any of the other 10, these commands come before us as the call of God on our life. The Law restrains evil in us and around us. It reveals to us in greater measure who God is, who we are, and our desperate condition and need for a better Moses. It is a to be a moral guide. It is to lead us to shake and tremble and soberly understand both God and ourselves accurately.

Tempted this week to crave what belongs to someone else, we look to our Shepherd’s provision and rejoice. We ask Him, through Christ, by the enablement of the Spirit of God, we ask him to produce big hearts that love and rightly fear. We are not to simply want less, but Him more.

Brothers and sisters, God is to be our Satisfaction.

Scholar and professor Jay Skylar down in Missouri says this:
“By speaking of his redemption before giving the Israelites his commandments, the LORD makes clear that his laws are meant not for them to earn relationship with him but to guide them into the relationship that already exists.

While it is true that he is speaking to them as a king and therefore is to be obeyed, he is especially worthy of their obedience because he is a redeeming king, a rescuing king, a good king who has delivered them from cruel slavery into his joyful service.

Obedience to his commands is not to be drudgery but delight fueled by gratitude and wonder at his unspeakably kind salvation.”

His glory our satisfaction and joy.

It’s always difficult to know how to end a series like this, so much can and should be said. But there will be other sermons and series ahead and we trust the Lord in these things. I’d like to finish by offering a word of encouragement to brothers and sisters who have sinned, who hear these laws and see nothing but failing.

Some of you may be familiar with a story called ‘The Silver Chair’ in the series Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I won’t get into all the details, but the children in the story, Jill, and by extension, Eustace, were given some signs and instructions to follow. Suffice to say, they quickly and easily forgot them. They fought with each other and inconsistently and imperfectly followed their master’s words.

Face to face with Aslan at the end of the story, in the chapter, ‘Healing of Harms’, wrestling with their regret, failing, and disobedience to the instructions given to them, we read this:

“And she wanted to say ‘I’m sorry’ but she could not speak. Then the Lion drew them toward him with his eyes, and bent down and touched their pale faces with his tongue, and said: ‘Think of that no more. I will not always be scolding. You have done the work for which I sent you into Narnia.”

Yes, we have broken God’s law. But the true Aslan, Jesus, would draw you near, offer you comfort and secure you in His promises and work. Repent of your sins and then think of that no more. Walk afresh in the Savior, our Lord, who lived, died, and rose for you. You’ve imperfectly walked, lived, and worked where He’s placed you. Yet, He uses flawed faithful followers of Christ. Because of your union with Him by faith, He is pleased with your striving; He is pleased with your obedience to His good Law. By the Spirit of God, by the Word of God, may He continue to give us big hearts to love Him and our neighbor.

We discuss philosophy behind pastoral ministry, how Christians should handle criticism, and how we process suffering in life

I think you could make the argument that pragmatism is a great danger in our society and the church at large. Certainly, we should affirm that good fruit and successful measures are worth celebrating. But pragmatism at its core champions the finish over the process. It often leads people to think the ends justify the means. If we get what we want in outcomes, who cares what steps, actions, or compromises we make to get it… integrity and character are thrown out the window, as long as I win.

The theologians in the band, Red Clay Strays, put it this way:
“You’ve been singing with the liars
And they’re playing your worst desires
If I could pull you from the fire
Then maybe I could save you
From these demons in your choir…”

How does all this relate to our series on God’s Good Law as we consider the 10 words known as the 10 commandments? Good question. Today, we arrive at and will cover the 8^th and 9^th words that are too readily compromised by us and the world we live in. Whether it’s the voices in the choir of our own mind, or those around us that we trust, we’ve been led astray. And the Scriptures confront us with a God who cares deeply about the goal and how we get there. We’re called to live consistently Christian in every area of our life.

To frame all of this and our time, we’re going to ask a question as our controlling hub: Why do we seek to control circumstances and narratives?

If you are someone who seeks to manipulate and manufacture outcomes with sincere or shady motives, if you worry about God’s provision and providence in your life, if you have cared more about producing than living like Christ, God has a good Word for you.

We’ll read in Exodus 20, starting in verse 15, God says this to us:

15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

This is the reading of God’s Word.

These are good words and laws for us to follow. As we’ve done through our series, beyond a list of dos and don’ts, we’ll go deeper to ask underlying questions and how the gospel of Jesus informs our understanding and obedience to God’s Word. So, why do we seek to control circumstances and narratives?

First, we consider: Our fear and desire for provision. This is directly tied to verse 15 and the command to not steal. A number of years ago, I had a good atheist friend who would engage in world view conversations with me, he even came to my home as we debated over coffee. Being fully committed to his worldview, he believed there was no such thing as wrong or sin, we are simply the consequences of chemicals going off in our brains. I asked him if I slapped him across the face and stole his wallet, would he be offended? We both had a good laugh.

Even the natural law and human reasoning of this world bend us toward stealing and theft being an attack against humanity. Throughout the immediate context of the Old Testament and into the New, we see that prohibition is consistently spoken against theft; taking property, people, money, spouses, animals and even people’s vocational assignments.

There is a simplicity to this law, yet before we simply say ‘bad’ and move on, we should ask what are the human conditions that lead to the breaking of this command? Both for Israel first hearing this upon the mountain, and for us today, it’s often connected to a real fear and desire for provision. I’m worried, anxious, and concerned that I may not have what I need or what I want so I take.

Throughout the Old Testament, under this Mosaic Covenant that promised blessing or cursing based on obedience to this word, we see many examples of stealing. Again, we’ll focus on the fear and desire behind it.

In the Levitical code we see this 8^th word applied toward neighbors and workers. Israel was not to rob or withhold wages. For God’s people to thrive in the land under the unique theocratic society of that time, people had to fundamentally trust God. A landowner may feel the pinch of the month’s vineyard expenses far outweighing her income and, perhaps out of fear or greed, a temptation arises to steal wages, buffer profits, and satisfy shareholders. What about more personal and secret theft?

You may recollect the sin of Achan in Joshua 7. Immediately after the powerful work of God to bring the city of Jericho down, instructed by the Lord himself to not take or plunder any of the spoils of the city, a man sees a cloak, silver, and gold and takes them. His coveting motives are purely speculation on our part, but we can make educated stabs at it. The beauty of something that is not yours that would look good on you. Financial security of a man who is part of a wandering people who may distrust what God gives is enough. The bottomless pit of needing more, even after he was given much by way of possessions and valuables as he and his people left Egypt. Yet, he saw, coveted, and took.

We see the same in the New Testament. You may think of examples like Zacchaeus who defrauded many of their money, or the traitor Judas who was helped himself to the money bag that was held as the provision for Jesus and his disciples. Get rich quick, manipulate your workplace to line your pockets, take money out of the collective pool for your own comfort, why would anyone do this?

It’s a fundamental skepticism of God’s provision and an insatiable craving for security. The end goal of provision must be met with godly means. God will provide. Whether you are literally taking cash, lying about your work hours, switching price tags at the store to pay less, copying someone’s writing and passing it off as your own, finding and keeping something that is not yours, borrowing a book and never giving it back, lying on your taxes, or taking advantage of someone for your benefit… the command to not steal is often set aside in our minds, and the minds of people in our culture. It can be treated as, as one pastor has famously quipped, ‘a respectable sin we tolerate’.

The word and command from Sinai is affirmed and republished in Christ. Paul says in Ephesians 4:28 that faithful followers of Christ are to not steal, we are to turn away from that sinful kind of life. Rather we are to labor, work, trust in God’s provision and even generously share with those in need. And that fundamentally was the posture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of taking, He gave. Instead of succumbing to fear and the desire for comfort and provision, Jesus held his life and his possessions loosely trusting in a good Father to provide. Jesus gave his time, his resources, his energy, and his life for others.

Now implicit in the command to not steal is the good and celebrated reality of ownership. God has graciously given us gifts, money, energy, family, career, and lives to steward. The Bible affirms that individuals have personal property and possessions according to the providence of God. We reject the idea that it is wrong to possess land, money, family, or even comfort.

AND God’s people gladly receive the call to live like Christ. To possess and steward, to work and to generously give. We do not support stealing of anyone’s possessions, that is a violation of the 8^th word. Rather, as the Spirit of God lives us in, as we respond to His word and prompting, we reject fear and trust God to give us what we need. We release the desire for provision to God and while we responsibly work, we lavish upon others as we are able.

Far too often God’s people hold tightly, steal and take. May God enable us to trust and give. Let me just add, if you have a fear or a strong desire for provision, if you are in need, instead of scheming, or breaking this command, pray and ask God for your daily bread. And then come to your brothers and sisters, share your need with us at Lakewood, and we will help you. If you have stolen or witness others breaking this command, follow the biblical principle of restoring and making the victim whole financially. The gospel produces a grace in us to seek to make things right.

Why do we seek to control circumstances and narratives? Because of our fear and desire for provision.

But we also wrestle against: Our fear and desire for oversight. Look down again at Exodus 20:16, as we are told to not bear false witness, to not lie against our neighbor. In my reading this week I was significantly aided by historians and academics who point out this was first and fore most to be understood in a court setting. In the ancient near east, judicial systems centrally depended upon the eyewitness and faithful account of everyday people. Long before forensic evidence, before security cameras, lie detectors, and computers to track bank accounts and shop lifters, we had men and women giving testimony.

This still happens today of course but isn’t as critical to our process. So, imagine if you would, a situation back in Moses’ day. A man named Matt has been accused of breaking the 8^th word and is before the court for theft. And I’ll pick a couple of very Jewish names here, imagine two men named Dave and Jarrod being brought forward as witnesses. They both were eyewitnesses and could speak to the actions and character of Matt. But here is the deal, they don’t like Matt. If fact, they might say Matt is a bit of a snob about things like music, coffee, and how to read. Life around the office would be so much easier without him.

And with no other sources of verification, they hold all the power to give false witness and send Matt to jail, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth where he’s forced to drink Starbucks coffee and listen to contemporary Christian top 40 hits.

Under the Old Covenant, the thriving of God’s people and the flourishing of the land was dependent upon men, women, and children being truth tellers and thus protecting others and living before God with integrity. This law expands and has many tentacles as the Lord commands that we are not to lie generally. Our yes is to be yes, and our no is to be no. We certainly don’t bear false witness in court, and this develops into a biblical ethic where we are also not to lie broadly.

In the garden it was Satan who lied to Eve about God’s Words. Abraham lied about his wife, twice, to influential leaders. Jacob deceived his father Issac over a meal. Ananias and Sapphira lied about the money they made off the sale of their home in Acts 5. Peter lied about knowing Jesus.

And whether it be little white lies about the size of fish you catch, exaggerations where we lie to make a point, or the half-baked information we receive and spread in the news and on social media… this ninth word and command is broken all the time.

We could just say ‘bad’ again and move on. We could resolve to just ‘stop it’ and see how far we get. But again, what is it that would lead us to bear false witness. There are many potential nuanced circumstances and motivations to highlight, but generally I think it’s safe to say that we are driven by fear and desire for oversight.

A lie at its underlying reality is a word spoken to control the narrative. We may fall into the trap of believing that if we are truth tellers, we won’t get the outcome we want. Again, this is a form of pragmatism. I’ll speak a word that achieves the end goal of what I want, and I don’t think the means, the way I get there, matters.

If I tell the truth about my sin, I’m fearful others will reject me. I want people to think I’m smart, so I’ll lie in a way that meets my desire for a good reputation. I’ll lie about my financial situation, so others feel poorly for me or they think I’m doing better than I really am. If I tell the truth to my children, I may lose their respect. If I tell the truth about moral issues, I may have to shed light on the darkness in me or the group I identify with. If I tell the truth about my dark past, I’ll lose out on the future. I lie about my achievements or experiences to elevate myself and lower others.

And the list goes on. We fabricate and deceive because of fear and a desire to control narratives, to want to have oversight of what happens to us and others, we want to have control over circumstances, whether for honorable or dishonorable outcomes.

As we did with theft, we look to Christ. Being a truth teller, refusing to bear false witness was central to the character of Jesus. The gospel writer John describes Him as being full of grace and truth. He never feared the consequences of honesty, he never fudged details to control the narrative, he never lied to protect himself or others, he never withheld true words, even if they were hard words to hear. At all times, in all circumstances, amid any temptation, Jesus trusted His Father. Instead of clinging tightly and controlling people’s perceptions, instead of fighting for the approval of others, instead of desiring to dictate circumstances by manipulation… The apostle Paul says in Philippians 2, that He emptied himself, what was his privilege to own and control, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

How unlike the Lord we are. We steal and lie. We are crippled by fear and overflowing with desires to provide for ourselves and control narratives to get the outcomes we desire. All of this builds to our third consideration that summarizes the matter: We want what is God’s.

This could certainly be said of each of the words from Sinai that we break, disregard, and willfully turn from. When I steal, when I frame things in a dishonest way and lie, I’m acting as the god and authority of my own life. He won’t provide as I need or want, so I will do it and take what is not mine. If I speak truth, God won’t bless my efforts, so I’ll manufacture my own ends and lie to get what I think God can’t.

These are realities that point us back to the ancient words and the historical account of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. Stealing and lying were the fruits of their underlying desire to be like God. Satan lied and promised Eve she would be like God in eating the fruit. Eve first, and then her idle husband who stood by, they lied to themselves and took what was not theirs to take. Their distrust of God’s good law, their distrust of His character and provision, it led them to control what is not theirs to control. Perhaps you can relate.

We don’t tell ourselves to stop stealing, lying, and seeking control and simply pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and garner internal motivation to do better. We ground these commands and our obedience to His character. What will lead us to give instead of take, to speak truth instead of falsehoods? What does the Lord tell us about Himself?

A fresh vision of Him will enlarge and enable our hearts.
The psalmist declares in 145, “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.”

God doesn’t merely provide, he satisfies desires. Those who look to Him, follow Him and His ways, those who honor these commands, He will provide for you. You have no need of controlling, you are to simply be faithful and diligent with what God has put before you in this season.

Paul, tells us in Romans 8, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

Do you believe this brothers and sisters? God will graciously give you all things. This doesn’t mean God will give you everything you want or think best. This doesn’t mean Jesus is a golden ticket to comfort and prosperity. Rather, He will give you what you truly need. Not just by way of circumstances in this life but also in what you need spiritually and eternally. You can trust God, you don’t need to steal or lie, He’s got you.

In addition, more centrally connected to the context of Romans 8. I+f like me you bear the scars of deep regret and failure. If you’ve tragically taken and massaged your words to control narratives, if you’ve hurt people you love, if you been betrayed by liars and thieves in your life, if you’ve drank the Kool aid and operated as though these are respectable little sins that God doesn’t care about, if you have listened to the devils in your choir and pragmatically given yourself over to producing at the expense of integrity and faithfulness… you must know that there is great grace for you in the gospel of Christ.

Jesus perfectly obeyed this command and trusted His Father when we have not. And instead of cashing in on his perfect obedience for his own benefit, he laid down his life as a payment for ours. He died on a cross and suffered the wrath and punishment of God in our place. Paul says in 2 Cor. 5, that ‘for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteous ness of God’.

Body limp, dead dead, placed in a tomb, 3 days later He conquered sin and death and walked out of that grave and is alive today. His resurrection is the verifiable proof that when He said, ‘It is finished’ as He hung on the cross, he accomplished redemption. You need to know my friends, that forgiveness, renewal, closeness with God, and restoration with people in your lives is possible through the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus died for thieves and liars and those who want to be the god of their life.

Our thieving and lying is met with the God who graciously gives us all things. We are not God, God is God. Physical and financial provision, your relationships, the political needs and landscape of our country, the papers you write in school, the vocational assignments you’ve been given in your home and in the work place… Through the enablement of the Spirit of God, God’s people can reverse the curse brought on by Adam and Eve’s sin, we can rest in the Lord and have consistent lives of integrity that do not steal and lie.

The end, the outcomes and goals we hope to have in this life, we can trust that God blesses the faithful means of us being faithful followers of Christ in every sphere of the life he’s given us.

Exodus 20:15-16 states, ‘Thou shall not steal. Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.’ Prayerfully ask the Lord how He would have you apply this practically in your life today. Use the 3 uses of the Law as your guide. These words from Sinai that are affirmed and republished by Christ, they are to restrain evil, show us God and our need of a Savior, and morally guide our everyday lives.

Allow me to land the plane here and finish the sermon by coming to a passage that has become a common prayer for Lisa and I. Through the years, in every season, when tempted to take what is God’s and produce and control, as a way to guide our lips and steady our hands from taking, we’ve gone to these words from Proverbs 30:8-9:
“give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.”

We are firmly planted in the heart of the 10 words, known as the 10 commandments. We understand more fully why Jesus said the greatest commands are to love God and love neighbor because as we’ve followed Yahweh’s words on Sinai, they demonstrate that very call on our life.

We love God and Him alone, we do not carve, make, and worship images and idols. We do not carry or speak God’s name in vain and empty ways. We cease and worship in Sabbath principle. Though difficult we give honor to fathers, mothers, and leaders in our life. Whether it be pre-born, elderly, disabled, or someone radically different than us, we care for God’s image in other humans. We do not murder in our heart with anger and we do not take life. That is only God’s to determine.

This leads us to the 7^th word in our series and our main idea which is simply this: Lovely things twisted produce ugly results.

Many of us know this intuitively. A beautiful plant placed in poor or diseased soil will bear bitter, not sweet fruit. Trust and affection are at the heart of every healthy relationship but sadly turn into resentment and pain when the betrayal and dishonestly corrupt.

Church buildings and programs can be twisted to be hollowed out machines that bring numbers but no spiritual integrity and vitality. Good church history can be elevated as an idol. Well-meaning pastors and leaders can subtly forget it is not their kingdom, but God’s they are to serve. We can over focus on family, money, singleness, comfort, homes, and church picnics, the human heart finds a way to take what is lovely and corrupt.

This is especially true in the realm of sex, intimacy, and the faithfulness that we enjoy with God and spouse. Regardless of your season of life, no matter your marital status, a word on adultery is life long and has eternal implications for everyone here. What we will come to find, as with all the commands from Sinai, is that this Word has been affirmed and republished by Christ and is much more far-reaching that we might initially consider.

In reverence to God’s Word, allow me a short prayer from the early church father, Augustine of Hippo; “Through you, Lord, we flee evil and follow the good. Through you, we do not give up in the face of disaster. And through you, the baits and enticements of evil have no power to hold us.” In Jesus’ name, amen.

God says this to us in Exodus 20:14:

“You shall not commit adultery.”

This is the reading of God’s Word. In light of lovely things twisted into ugliness, we start with the lovely. We first consider: The goodness and beauty of sex. Parents, this will be appropriately communicated in front of your children, remember that part of your discipleship of them is to have good and helpful conversations around these biblical and very human topics.

Through church history and in what some of you have been exposed to, sex has been regarded as an evil necessity, a gross and ugly thing. Through the early and medieval eras of the church there was a both a strong affirmation of marriage and sexuality and also strands of tradition that understood celibacy as spiritually elevated and at times had excessive suspicion of a husband and wife coming together in intimacy. While it does not originate with the Reformers, I enjoy reading how they argued that marriage was not spiritually inferior and that intimacy in the midst of it was part of God’s good design.

Many after them argued against a wrong kind of advocating of celibacy, they celebrated the ideal of healthy, trusting, romantic love in marriage. They demonstrated from the Scriptures that sex is good and wonderful. And all of God’s people said, ‘amen’.

Now that’s all a fine history lesson, but how does the goodness and beauty of sex connect to the command to not commit adultery? Similar to how we considered work and the Sabbath as well as the image of God and the command to not murder, understanding the lovely and the positive side of the command will inform how we hear the prohibition.

Because of the twisting of sexuality, and we’ll address that more in a moment, there can be an unbalanced over reaction in Christian circles.

When we come to the biblical data, I wonder if sometimes Christians have been more embarrassed by God’s good gifts than Scripture itself is. The act of a man and a woman coming together in physical intimacy is ordained by God in the beginning of creation. Adam and Eve were to be fruitful and multiply, it’s part of His design.

Lest you think that this kind of intimacy is simply for procreation, you would be wrong. The book Song of Songs is about the love between a husband and wife that points us to a deeper reality of God’s love for His people. I chose a more subtle verse on the screen, but a husband and a wife ideally are to be enraptured in their love and affection for one another. In this book we see that intimacy isn’t simply procreational, but as one pastor has said, it is “also relational, and even recreational. Sex is for love, for pleasure, and for joy.”

I was helped in my reading this week, thinking beyond physical anatomy, beyond the birds and bees and where babies come from, asking ‘What is sex?’. God has established it as a sign of faithfulness, a sign of trust and partnership. A husband and wife come together in this act as a way to say, “I’m fully giving myself to you, I’m committed to you, I love you, and I want you”. You could say and I like to say, it’s an affirming of the marriage vows. Adultery isn’t merely about breaking a rule about where you put your body. It’s a contradiction with your body of the covenant you’ve made with your spouse.

And this kind of loyalty and affection, it’s not simply expressed in sex. There are many circumstances, seasons, trials, exceptions and valid reasons where this does not happen. There are many ways to communicate the goodness and beauty of intimacy. Yet, there is a reason the Scriptures are adamant that it is good for a husband and wife to come together. If you are able, if you are in an imperfect but healthy and mutually trusting marriage, seek to affirm your vows, seek this time as a sign of your commitment in a fresh way.

Now, again, I’m going to talk of the dark side of these things in a moment as we consider the command to not commit adultery and how sex is so often twisted in our minds and hearts. But I want to take a moment to address something I’ve alluded to in a few sermons, what theologians across many Christian traditions call the Natural Law. I believe this will further cement the command to not commit adultery.

Natural Law is the study of how the created order of the world we live in argues for the moral laws of God. So, in this case, even if you didn’t have the Scriptures that said, ‘sex is good, adultery is bad’, the natural world and human reason inform us in measure of God’s ways. We still admit our fallen nature suppresses and distorts the natural law, and we are in desperate need of God’s revelation and words. But there is something naturally given by God to all people about our inclinations toward intimacy.

The 13^th century friar, theologian, and philosopher Thomas Aquinas, considered one of the most influential thinkers in the Western world, discussed these ideas and remarked:

“The object of marriage among (humanity) is not only the begetting and feeding of children, but also the partnership of a common life…”

The natural world and human reason argue that there are good purposes in marriage and in sex. May God help our partnerships in marriage build a common life of joy, and may that include the goodness and beauty of sex.

I’ll finish this point by asking this question to all the husbands and wives. Does the enjoyment of your common life, marriage, and intimacy reflect the Scriptures teaching?

All of that is the lovely, we now turn and consider the twisting of good and the reality of ugly by thinking carefully on: Our physical and spiritual sins. When God says, ‘you shall not commit adultery’, He’s expressing a command that protects the goodness of covenant commitment and marriage that we just surveyed. And what is adultery?

We’re not ignorant on this matter, it is sexual unfaithfulness in a marriage. In addition, throughout the Old and New Testament this call to covenant faithfulness rests alongside a much larger sexual ethic protecting marital fidelity by outlawing rape, incest, premarital fornication, bestiality, homosexuality, pedophilia, sexual abuse, lustful thoughts and fantasies, and more.

But don’t get it confused, fundamentally, this is a word that protects covenant faithfulness in marriage and from here the Scripture will develop a broader vision of sexual holiness.

What we find is that God warns His children first under the Old Covenant and now the New Covenant, that there are dire consequences to adultery.

Unfaithfulness in the realm of sexuality was seen as such a treacherous act against God and spouse and family, it was such a betrayal of covenant commitment to both, marriage was so central to human flourishing and the stability of society, that Israel was to enforce capital punishment as we see on the screen Leviticus 20:10.

While the severity and civil sanction under theocratic Israel and the Old Covenant is obsolete, the moral seriousness of this has not changed. Now in the New Covenant we do not see immediate death, but warning of ultimate death for those who are unrepentant of their sin. In this era of Christ we call sinners to repentance, we practice the accountability and care of church membership and discipline, and lead people to restoration. For those who break this sacred bond and are unwilling to turn to newness in Christ, eternal judgment awaits.

And while this is all sobering, it says nothing of the ripple effect of disaster in your life and the life of those around you.

Hold on, it gets more encompassing. There are many who may try to be overly literal on the letter of the law and convince themselves they are innocent as it relates to this command. However, the heart of the law and the teaching of God’s Word show us differently.

Throughout the Old Testament the prophets use the image and language of adultery to speak of their covenant unfaithfulness to Yahweh. We have a word from Jeremiah 5 here, God’s people forsook Him, worshipped false gods, idols, and themselves, and it is called adultery. In intimacy they connected themselves to someone outside the covenant they had made.

The command ‘you shall not commit adultery’, it drives to the heart and soul of a person. “The seventh commandment itself concerns marriage, but Scripture later takes the covenant imagery of marriage and uses it to describe our relationship with God. The Bible doesn’t confuse our covenant with our spouse and our covenant with God. But it does use one to illuminate the other.”

Philip Ryken, theologian and president of Wheaton College elaborates:
“There is something transcendent about our sexuality. In the same way that husbands and wives give themselves to one another – holding nothing back – God gives himself to us and wants us to give ourselves to him.”

We also know that Jesus affirms marital faithfulness in Matthew 19. Yet let’s remind ourselves of what is said through His teaching on the sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. Everyone who gazes, dwells, fantasizes with lustful intent in their heart, they have already committed adultery. Jesus doesn’t let us reduce adultery to a physical act; he takes us deeper and exposes the heart that produces it.

“Jesus is not condemning the recognition of beauty. He is condemning the deliberate cultivation of sexual desire toward someone who is not your spouse. There is a difference between seeing beauty and turning that beauty into an object for your own lust.”

This is both a physical and spiritual issue.

The Scriptures consistently understand covenant betrayal as serious, it is even called a great sin. In Genesis 20 Abraham lies to Abimelech and offers his wife to sleep with the king. God kindly protects Sarah and the king and stops them. Abimelech questions Abraham, why would you bring this great sin upon me and my kingdom?

What about flawed spiritual and political leaders? 2 Kings 17, Jeroboam drives Israel away from following Yahweh and creates a climate in which they commit great sin, spiritual adultery, intimacy with someone other than their covenant God.

Soberly and honestly, brothers and sisters, we look at ourselves and confess that we are all sinners who need the grace of Christ. We do not minimize that some adulterous sins are far more explosive and impacting than others. And let’s be real, some of us have specifically committed sexual sins, and others of us have been sinned against.

A helpful resource I came across that should be stated plainly, hear this:
“If this command has been broken by your spouse, their sin is not your sin. Their betrayal doesn’t make you unclean. Their unfaithfulness does not mean you failed to be worthy of faithfulness. God sees the wounded spouse too.” In a moment we’ll specifically address gospel realities, but the Lord sees us in our failing and in our hurt.

This command gives us a principle that, with wisdom, we seek to apply to our daily habits. We live and resolve to be faithful to our covenant promises to God and to our spouses, physically and spiritually.

The married are to say: “We covenant to give our sexual and romantic intimacy exclusively to our spouse.”

The single are to say: “We covenant to practice sexual purity and reserve sexual intimacy for marriage.”

Every faithful follower of Christ is to say: “We are all called to exclusive faithfulness to God.”

I still have much thinking and learning to do in understanding how the physical and the spiritual connect together in God’s economy. I do know that I don’t want to conflate adultery with all sexual sin, and I do not want the spiritual emphasis of the 7^th command to be wrongly understood as a restatement of the 2^nd command of no idols. All that to say, I’m still working this out.

There is no doubt that lovely things have been twisted and it produces ugliness. There is a beauty and goodness to sex, our physical and spiritual sins are many, and so now we look to: God’s redemptive work. One of the difficulties in considering Christianity and the 10 commandments through history and especially in light of our Western postmodern sensibilities, is the idea that God would lead, govern, and rule over every area of our life. Lists detailing restriction on our lives rubs against our perceived rights. Let’s go back to the list referenced earlier:

Paul says in 1 Cor. 6:9-10:
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Those of us who have twisted lovely things in physical and spiritual ways are met with stern words, is this the end of the story? No, keep reading.

“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” - 1 Cor. 6:11

Paul doesn’t say good people used to be bad, he says sinful people have been washed. Whether you are here this morning and considering the claims of Christianity for the first time, or you have been here for years and need a revival and recentering in your life there is great grace for you in the gospel of Christ. Jesus died on a cross to pay for sin, and he resurrected to validate his great work and offer new life to any who would trust in Him.

Does your physical and spiritual adultery make you feel dirty? In Christ you’ve been washed.
Do your secret sins feel impossible to overcome? In Christ the sanctifying work of the Spirit will aid you.
Does your guilt lead you to feel the weight of condemnation? In Christ you’ve been declared righteous and justified.

There is a right kind of shame and guilt we can feel and others can feel about their sin that leads us all to conviction. Yet it is not God’s intention for you to stay in that muck. There will be consequences we have to deal with and work through, but there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. Shame and guilt are separate realities and both are removed through the redemptive work of Christ. Praise God!

We do not need a better set of rules and laws, we need a Savior who makes us faithful. We’ve used our bodies selfishly; Jesus sacrificed His on the cross. Despite our unfaithfulness to God, Jesus comes in as our Bridegroom, He gives himself, He is the faithful one in covenant relationship, when we have not been. Faithfulness is first a characteristic of our Holy God, then because of our union with Christ, we are enabled by the Spirit as we are taught to follow this good law. This is the good news of Jesus.

There is zero reason for us to hide in the darkness, cover sin, pretend it doesn’t exist, or wallow in our regret and failings. Galatians 1 says that Jesus has died to save us from the present evil age. He has moved and worked in redemptive history to bring you to the command ‘you shall not commit adultery’, and instead of drudgery, instead of embarrassment, instead of apathy we can live as God’s people who love His good law.

Very practically, in light of all these things, the good, the bad, and the gospel, let’s apply it.

The 7^th word remains as God’s will for faithful followers of Christ who are to not commit adultery physically or spiritually.

First, this is a good word that should restrain evil. Just as we’ve heard the last two weeks, we can celebrate good laws that uphold this moral law. In our own civil code, there are laws that relate to protecting the integrity of marriage and faithfulness. The evil of abuse, exploitation, and more is curbed, people are protected by good laws. I was helped by a quote that says this: “God’s law restrains evil not only in our hearts but also reminds society that sexual exploitation, abuse, and the violation of covenant faithfulness are not trivial matters.”

Second, the command to not commit adultery is a mirror. We see afresh God’s heart to protect us from the ugliness of covenant unfaithfulness when we wander from Him or our spouse. We see God’s design, as Aquinas said, for a man and a woman to have a partnership and a common life of love, commitment, trust, and loyalty to one another and God.

Yet we also see our sin. Regardless of whether of you’ve wandered or been the one betrayed, whether it’s explosive and far impacting or secret and you fall into the lie of saying it has no impact… we all look into the mirror and out into the world through the lens of this Word and see brokenness and sin. We see afresh that we need Jesus to redeem, forgive, change, renew, and bring healing.

Third, this command to not commit adultery is a moral guide to each of our lives, no matter your marital status or season of life.

The seventh command isn’t merely something that becomes relevant after marriage. For the unmarried among us, it teaches sexual holiness, honoring future marriage, refusing to treat another person as an object, contentment, fidelity to Christ, learning covenant faithfulness before entering a marriage covenant

Under the umbrella of physical and spiritual adultery are many daily choices all of us must make. And while we are not to be legalistic and improperly bind the conscience of God’s people, we should have deep questions we ask as we prayerfully seek to obey this word. An obedience that is only possible by the Spirit of God living in us.

Brothers and sisters:

What good boundaries and safeguards are you maintaining? Be wise and Christ-like in your private messaging, emotional intimacy, fight against pornography. Be careful in entertainment, flirting, work relationships, social media and your devices.

Guard your eyes. What are you deliberately putting before them?

Guard your heart. What fantasies, resentments, or emotional attachments are you cultivating?

Guard your covenant. How are you actively nurturing trust, affection, communication, and faithfulness in your marriage?

Guard your worship. Where are you seeking from sex, romance, attention, or another person what only God can provide?

These are heavy but good things to contemplate. Lovely things twisted produce ugly results. Do you know what is lovely? Being content with the life God has given you. Adultery says God has not given me enough. Faithfulness says what I have is God’s providence and I’ll strive for thankfulness. Adultery says I will take outside my covenant. Christ says, I will give myself for my covenant bride, the Church.

It’s true that lovely things twisted produce ugly results. But the gospel tells us something even more beautiful: though we are unfaithful, Christ is faithful. So, whether married or single, young or old, wounded or struggling, let us receive His grace, walk by His Spirit, and become a people known for faithfulness—to our God, to our spouses, and to one another.

As we’ve walked through this series on ‘God’s Good Law’, I hope you’ve been encouraged, challenged, and inspired to know God more deeply and follow Him and His ways. These laws are not cruel dictates given from a cold and distant overlord. Rather, we’ve been reminded that God graciously initiated, moved, rescued and redeemed His people from slavery in Egypt, He bore them on eagles’ wings. He saved them not because of how good and moral they were, but because of His deep love.

A kind act of God, and now we are in the middle of God’s communication with His people as He speaks to Moses on a mountain. These laws are the structured framework of a promise relationship called the Mosaic Covenant. It was a conditional agreement where obedience to God would bring blessing and flourishing, while disobedience would bring consequence, judgment, and exile from the land.

And while God no longer relates to His people in this conditional way - thankfully Jesus has come and ushered in a new and better way to be close to God and receive His blessing - these 10 words, known as the 10 commandments, they still hold value and guidance for us today as we understand them in light of the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. In that framing we’ve said that the Law while initially given to Israel, is a thoroughly Christian document as part of God’s Word for us.

Today’s word, often cited as the 5^th commandment, it is the first of a second tablet, a second half of laws that focus on how God’s people interact with others. Through the first 4 words we’ve been instructed to have no other gods, to not carve, make, bow down and worship idols, our life is not to take or carry God’s name in vain and empty ways, and we are to practice Sabbath as we have a life of ceasing and worshipping the Lord.

Seeking to maintain a tight connection between those first words and our text today, our main idea will simply be this: Our love for others is shaped by our love for God.

You cannot truly follow God’s ways in your earthly relationships unless you’ve first been changed, enabled, and choose to joyfully obey the words that come prior. The order is critical, we are to love God and when our hearts are rightly ordered and postured toward Him, our affections and interactions toward others will align with His call on our lives.

We start with the earliest relational opportunities we have in our life, the dynamic between fathers and mothers with sons and daughters. We’ll see this has broader application as well. But I would venture to guess I’m not the only one here who may have questions and difficulties as it relates to family. A careful consideration of God’s decree on our families often comes with immediate recognition of failing, unmet expectations, explosive arguments, ruined holiday dinners, and men, women, and children who have deep regret and many who harbor deep-seeded bitterness.

We don’t come to this lightly. So, in reverence to God’s Word, in true dependence, let me pray for us as we go to the Scriptures together. Part of a prayer from an English Puritan pastor named George Swinnock in the 1600’s… “(Father) I pray that as a parent of my children, I may conduct myself as a child of my God. Lord, my sons are your sons, and my daughters are your daughters. Let your power prosper…” as you work in them and us. Show us your glory in Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.

In Exodus 20 we’ll read and focus on one verse, verse 12, where God says this to us: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

This is the reading of God’s Word. To help us understand God, the initial application to the nation of Israel, and then rejoice in this command for our lives today, we’re going to ask 4 questions of this simple yet difficult verse.

First, Who are my father and mother?
For a moment, fathers and mothers, go ahead and turn to your children and tell them, I am your father or I am your mother. Children, it seems we have our answer. Now this might strike you as a silly question, but you’ll come understand there is some nuance attached to this command.

In order to properly understand these words, we have to thoughtfully consider the role and function of fathers and mothers in the lives of their children. Across cultures and eras, it is widely agreed upon and practiced that parents tend to the physical needs of their kids. A baby is born and great care is taken to make sure they are fed and cleaned. Those little chubby armed babies grow and are taught to communicate, tie their shoes, and learn math. This is all true and good, yet God’s people, those who would become fathers and mothers, they are given another task.

As part of their own spiritual vibrancy with God, in ritual prayers and recognition of God and His Word, known as the Shema, parents throughout the Scriptures, not just here, are presented with the responsibility to point their children to God. In the immediate context, Jewish parents would demonstrate, model, and instruct their kids in this: that God has made a covenant, a promise, a way of life for them to relate to and honor God. This is still God’s call on parents today; we tell our children of God and the New Covenant through Jesus that brings us close to God. Mom and Dad, you are responsible to point your children to the covenant promises ushered in by the gospel of Christ.

I don’t want us to over-spiritualize the role of parents, so let’s tie the physical and spiritual provision together. Why do we nurture, teach, care, love, shelter, discipline, tuck our children into bed, buy them Legos, enroll them in sports, feed them continuously? We do these things because our children are whole people; mind, body and soul. We do this because physical provisions create the bedrock of a home, a physical space, where parents can point their children to God. This is who fathers and mothers are supposed to be in God’s kingdom.

But through the Old Testament, this was new to me this week, we find different leaders called father and mother. In Genesis 45 Joseph has become a political leader, 2^nd in command in Egypt, and he says he’s become a father to Pharaoh. In Judges 5, we have the leader and judge, Deborah, who is a mother to the nation of Israel. In 2 Kings, we read the historical account of the leader and prophet Elijah being taken up to heaven and Elisha calls him his father.

What we find is that the 5^th word in the Law given on top of Sinai, it is a command to honor father and mother, and it has much broader application than simply our biological parents. Our parents, those who are supposed to point us to covenant realities, those who are to protect us physically and aid us spiritually, it encompasses leaders that God has placed over us in authority.

And when you think about the entire Old Testament Law, this makes sense. Each of the 613 laws that were specific to the theocratic, geo-political, national people called Israel, they could all be categorized by falling under one of the broader 10 commandments. Laws and expectations related to our submission, obedience, and support of authority falls under this command to honor our father and mother.

Who is your father and mother? More people than you would like. What is their role? To point you to the covenant, to the realities of God and His love. Whether it be the adults we live with as young people, or leaders God has placed in our lives outside the home, they are to aim to furnish, supply and produce, as best they can, a safe and nurturing physical space AND a thorough and faithful spiritual message pointing people to God.

That’s all well and fine, we have a better idea of who our fathers and mothers are, but next, we must ask two connected questions: What is honor? And why is it necessary?

Honor has a deeper meaning than simply obeying and listening. Should we obey and listen to our fathers and mothers? Yes. And I’ll qualify that in a moment. But this word honor could very literally be understood as weighty. Here is how one writer describes it,

“To honor one’s parents, therefore, is to give due weight to their position. It is to give them the recognition they deserve for their God-given authority. To honor is to respect, esteem, value, and prize fathers and mothers as gifts from God.”

This tells us that honor carries with it the idea of prizing highly, exalting, elevating in our minds, hearts, and actions. Both in the Old and New Testament, this had the practical implication of following a parent’s instruction as they pointed children to the covenant and God’s character. It also established the pattern of caring for parents as they got older and needed the physical and spiritual care they gave their children. Most children come to a season in which they begin to parent their parents.

For a moment, as a quick observation, let me point out something that can often be missed. Look back down at Exodus 20, verse 12, it reads, ‘Honor your father AND mother’. In Leviticus 19 the order is reversed, and it says, ‘Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father…’. In an Ancient Near East setting, especially in contrast to the Egyptian culture that Israel had just be rescued from, this was quite exceptional. A mother is to receive the same honor and have the same weight as a father.

What’s the point? Through human history, across different cultures, there has been a tendency to give honor to only fathers or only mothers. There have been plenty of examples then and now, where men and women feel marginalized, not valued, or respected. We are never to celebrate the honor of fathers at the expense of mothers, and we are never to celebrate the honor of mothers at the expense of fathers. God would have us treat both with appropriate weight.

Now what the Scriptures show us is that God’s people have laid upon them the high calling of this kind of posture that shows honor. But why? Why is this necessary? In Israel’s situation, established at Sinai, the future and maintaining possession of Canaan, and the conditional blessing or cursing of the Mosaic Covenant was dependent upon generation after generation pointing each other and honoring each other by looking to God and following His ways.

The call to give appropriate honor to fathers, mothers, and leaders meant that they were honorable in their responsibility to point people to obey God’s covenant stipulations and enjoy blessing in the land. Look again at the end of Exodus 20:12, ‘Honor your father and your mother, THAT your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.’

While some connect this to physical life that thrives when parents care for children and children care for the elderly, resulting in people living longer. Most understand this in light of the conditional promise God is making to a specific nation, at a specific time. If you obey my ways, you will live long in the land. Canaan will be yours, you will continue to inherit and enjoy God’s presence in a particular geographical spot that is to be filled with milk and honey, vibrancy, lush produce and be another Eden like garden that points to the final Garden we call the New Heavens and the New Earth.

Honoring, giving weight, and obeying fathers, mothers, and leaders who pointed others to the covenant was necessary because it would preserve not just family structures and units, but it would preserve faithfulness to God and faithfulness to His words, and long life in the land.

We now have further clarity on who our father and mother is, we see what honor entails and why it is necessary, let’s address some common hurdles and the significance of the New covenant by asking: How does Christ inform and enable this?

As an old millennial, caught in-between generations, I can’t help but think of music I grew up with that give voice to the broken nature of fathers, mothers, and leaders pointing children to God and children honoring and obeying them.

The Ramones sarcastically said, ‘We’re a happy family’ while penning lyrics of dysfunction.
The Beastie boys told us that children ‘got to fight for their right’
Everclear wrote a song ‘Father of mine’ that expresses resentment, and emotional pain.

We all know the command to honor can put us in a confusing headspace as we see the failures of fathers and mothers and our own personal sin that makes following through on this a daily battle. To frame how we address this, we must first ask if this command is republished by Jesus for you and I today.

And we quickly conclude, yes. Recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus confronts those who called themselves followers of God yet broke this command of honor by not caring for their aged parents. Some of you may recollect Jesus’ interaction with a rich young ruler in Luke 18 and tells him to obey the commands, including honoring father and mother.

Paul, writing on Christian relationships, instructs children to obey their parents in the Lord, for this is right. The apostle even goes on to remind us that this command comes with a promise, citing Exodus 20’s words of living long in the land. Implying there is still blessing for following this decree.

And this might be a good place for us to sit for a moment. It’s plain in these texts as well as many others that Christians are instructed to give weight to parents and leaders that God places in their life. Yet it’s that phrase in Ephesians 6 that rightly qualifies that honor. We are to obey and honor in the Lord.

At dinner this week I asked my children what it meant for them to honor their father and mother. One of our teenagers, seeking to give weight and recognition to our position as parents, immediately declares, ‘we should obey you.’ That’s the kind of conformity I’m looking for.

So I asked, ‘What if I ask you to do something that is sinful, harmful, or unwise?’ She replies, ‘I don’t care what you say then, I’m not gonna do it’.

Another teenager chimes in, ‘Dad, what about the time you asked one us to pretend they were 18 so they could sign the UPS package that came to the house?’

I won’t bring up other examples my children gleefully shared regarding my flawed parenting. For the record, the UPS driver came after I got home from work, so I was able to sign. While that’s funny, it forces me, and every father, mother, and leader in the room to humbly reflect on whether we are creating family, church, and community cultures that make it hard for us to point to our covenant God and hard for others to honor and obey. To every human institution, we are to obey in the Lord. Our love for God must come first. And therefore parents and leaders must take great pains to be honorable in the Lord.

While the command has not changed, while the weight of authority is still to be honored, as Christians we do enjoy something Israel did not, and that is the enabling, redeeming grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Before Paul would instruct human relationships and cite the old 5^th word to honor, he would declare God’s work to initiate, save, forgive, change, and establish those who trust in Jesus and His gospel.

Think of it this way, our Triune God; Father, Son, and Spirit, worked in unity and with love to send the God man Jesus to die for dishonorable parents and leaders and to die for those who fail to show honor and respect to them. Jesus’ death and resurrection secure forgiveness and the power of God to resurrect our dead hearts and enable our loving of others.

If you sense in you an unwillingness to give honor, in a fresh way ask the Lord for help. Now, there may still be some here who have specific instances in mind that cause difficulty and angst with showing honor. I’ll aim to address a couple of them as we follow the tradition of church history and our series to contemplate the 3 uses of the Law.

The Law, as it is given in the 10 words of Exodus 20 and as it is republished by Christ and his gospel, it does have specific function for us today.

First, the 5^th word to honor our parents and leaders, it is a law given that restrains evil in us and around us. As a posted speed limit sign guardrails that led foot grandma on Hwy 210, this command guardrails sin in our personal lives and community. Even good laws in our society rightly protect and give honor. In the United States there are Filial laws that require us to take responsibility to care for our families. There are elder abuse and neglect laws, medical leave laws, guardianship laws… all of these aim to limit evil and harm and to show honor to fathers and mothers.

Second, the command to honor is a mirror as it reveals God’s character, our character, and our need for Christ. The heart of God is that families and leaders would point each other to the covenant and the character of God. His heart is that the parents, grandparents, parent-like figures, role models, and leaders in authority would see their responsibility in God’s plan for each generation to know Him and love Him.

We see ourselves in this command as well, don’t we? Whether by rebellion or real pain and hurt from past experiences, we are not quick to give honor. We see brokenness in us, and it is right that we would repent of sin and turn to Christ and ask for His forgiveness and enabling grace.

Third, and I’d like to give a few examples here, this command remains as a moral guide for our lives. Children, whether you are young or old, God commands you to recognize the weight, honor, and recognition due your parents. None of us would be here without them.

What about bad parents? Abusive parents? Abandoning parents? Parents who don’t understand you? Parents whose blind spots drive you nuts? Parents who speak a different generational language than you? Yes, we honor all parents.

We honor our parents by telling them the truth, even when it’s hard. We honor our parents by calling the police on them when they are a harm to themselves or others. We honor parents by rejecting their commands that are ungodly. We honor our parents by biting our lip at the family meal. We honor our parents by checking in on them. We honor our parents by being sensitive to their needs in old age. We honor our parents by not enabling misguided lifestyle decisions.

We honor our parents by praying for them and sharing the gospel. We honor our parents by aiming to communicate gratitude and a kind compliment, when possible. When honor our parents by engaging with them even if we feel that don’t deserve it. We honor our parents by speaking well of them in front of others. We honor our parents by listening to their advice because they do know what they are talking about, sometimes. We honor our parents by heeding their teaching as they point us to God.

Take this 5^th word, use it and follow it all your days.

Brothers and sisters: Our love for others is shaped by our love for God. We follow the first 4 commandments, and then we honor our parents, in the Lord, for this is right. All of us grow up and will struggle with this. Many children grow up and have children themselves. May God help us to rightly influence our family trees by being honorable and showing honor. May our church here at Lakewood be a shining light of the love of Christ, a love that shapes how we interact with our families, our leaders, and our community.

Here at Lakewood, we’ll often do responsive readings from different catechisms from church history. Listen to this question and answer from the Heidelberg Catechism:

Question: What is God’s will for you in the fifth commandment?
Answer:
That I show honor, love, and faithfulness to my father and mother and all those in authority over me; submit myself with proper obedience to all their good teaching and discipline, and also that I be patient with their failings – for by their hand God wills to rule us.

May this be true of us.

Let me ask everyone in the room this very difficult final question, ‘do you prize your father and mother, and those in authority over you, as a gift from God?’ Do you receive them with patience, even with their failings, because you trust God’s providence in giving them to you?

Today, at least for this moment, during this service, you and I are obeying and living out the heart of the 4^th word of what is known as the 10 commandments. You may be aware; through Church history there has been endless conversation and debate about what it means to keep the Sabbath. While most agree that there is a difference between how Christians relate to God compared to Israel, we are not under the Mosaic covenant, there is still a question of how New Covenant believers are to relate to the Sabbath.

I’ve tipped my hand already, we are called to obey this word, we are obeying this word, and as we’ve seen with the first 3 commands of Exodus 20, we will ask God for clarity around it, and grace to further follow His ways.

I don’t always reference the title of my sermons, but this morning I will. ‘For God’s Sake, Rest!’ This is a direct quote from the late Jim Anderson who wrote a book with this title. Roughly two years ago, he passed away, he was a faithful member at Lakewood, a long-time pastor, friend, and mentor to our community and our North Central District in the EFCA.

He gave his life, and wrote fervently, to this idea of Sabbath and rest. I love this line in his book, “As parents and grandparents take pleasure in their sleeping children, so God takes pleasure in our rest.”

We’ll come to see this today as I aim to convince you of this one central idea: God wants you to stop and worship. As I’ve alluded, there are nuances between the immediate context of Exodus 20 and us today. However, the same God is after your heart as He reveals Himself and offers a way of joy and delight.

So, if you find yourself fighting laziness and you over-rest. In an extreme reaction to those tendencies, if you are an over-worker and seemingly never rest. If you’re a business owner worried about taking a day off, a parent trying to pay bills who may have to work every day of the week, someone who struggles for different reasons to go to church consistently, if you take walks, naps, vacations, and read good books but still find yourself not rested, God has a good word for you in Exodus 20.

In reverence to the Word of God, a part of a short prayer from a bishop named Ambrose in the 4^th century, “(Oh Father) Show us now a plain sign of your majesty.” In Jesus’ name, amen.

Starting in Exodus 20, verse 8, God says this to us:

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

God wants you to stop and worship, He aims for you to faithfully follow these words from Sinai that have been republished and further informed by Jesus and His gospel. To do this we’ll first focus on an aspect that gets overlooked in these conversations, and that is the: The Goodness of Work.

Often forgotten in the midst of the 4^th commandment, in these 4 verses are 4 references to work, and they are overwhelmingly positive. Historians note that in the Greco-Roman world, work, labor with your hands, was viewed as the task of slaves, it was beneath dignified folk. Christianity fundamentally challenged this, as the Scriptures encourages diligent work.

You may have heard of what has been called the ‘Protestant Work Ethic’. It was reformers like John Calvin and Martin Luther who celebrated the idea of calling and vocation, dismantling the idea of sacred and secular work. Work is good, spiritual, and honoring to the Lord. This was passed down to the Puritans and it absolutely transformed how Western society views work and productivity. Work, in a holistic sense, not just your job, not just the tedious means for you to get money and survive, but as one writer has said, it is the “diligent and productive use of whatever resources and talents one has been given.”

Where does this tradition of work being a good thing, come from?

In the beginning, before sin, before brokenness, before the evil of taxes and the need of paid holidays, was the goodness of work. First Adam, then Eve, were created to work the garden and keep it. This being a dual role is explicit in Genesis 1:28, the Lord created them male and female in God’s image, they were to fill the earth, subdue it, have dominion over it, and work.

This is affirmed in the New Covenant as well, Paul says faithful followers of Christ are to work heartily, as for the Lord. Hard work, good work is part of God’s ways. Sometimes we view work, the idea of it, as a curse. You show up to the office, you go to school, you’re at home with a child, you’re cutting your grass, you are not simply to tolerate it but enjoy it.

I like how the preacher in Ecclesiastes puts it:
“There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil.”
That’s not to say that everything about work is perfect. The curse has brought difficulty and pain in using our mind and hands, there are also considerable difficulties surrounding laboring alongside other flawed and sinful people.

But work, it is part of the reflection of God’s image in us. Work is part of God’s design. While we can look back and see how aspects of American Exceptionalism brought a hyper focus on productivity, overwork and self-reliance, there is something deeply good about work and the history of it in our culture.

Risking the potential of sounding like a nostalgic old man waving his fist at the clouds, it is both right and necessary to say that while some have pursued healthy balance, it would be fair to say that work is not viewed as positively as it could be. Talk to any small business owner, there is a difficulty in finding people who will work. Even the people who do work, many are unwilling to work the hours required of them or be diligent with those hours. Much more can be done to care for workers in significant ways, but our Western world has become very comfortable, and work is not what it used to be.

Of course, there are both exceptions and extremes, I’m not going to nuance this to death. But look back down to Exodus 20, verse 9, six days you shall labor and do all your work. Verse 11, in six days the LORD made, he worked. Both under the Old Mosaic Covenant and under the New with Jesus, God’s people are to view work as something the LORD modeled to us and has commanded everyone to do. Every season, every person, every work assignment will look different, but whatever work the Lord gives, receive it as His good gift. There will be difficult aspects of it for sure, ask Him for enjoyment in it.

The Goodness and expectation of work is quickly followed by: The Sign of Sabbath. This brings us to the heart of the matter as we consider God’s Law and this command being spoken over our life.

The word Sabbath comes from a root that could woodenly say ‘cease’. Verse 8, remember, reflect, take action to have a cease day, keep it holy, keep it separate. Verse 10, look down again, ‘but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God’. Cease, rest, and as we’ll come to see, worship the Lord on this day.

This first time Sabbath is ever commanded was immediately after God used Moses to lead Israel through the Red Sea and to safety as they fled the Egyptians. Singing and dancing, celebrating God’s deliverance, provisions of water and manna from Heaven are given, and then God says when you pick up your manna, your bread and provision on Friday, make sure you grab double.

Because, “Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD.” So, Sunday through Friday, the first 6 days of the week, God’s people would gather, exert themselves and take in whatever work they were given in the different seasons of their personal lives and their history. They were to cease from labor. But what does it mean to remember the Sabbath and how is this done to or for the Lord?

The day of Sabbath, the call to cease, it was a sign for Israel under the Mosaic Covenant. In Exodus 31:12-13 we read this:

“And the LORD said to Moses, “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you.”

Covenants, relationships built on promises often have a sign. I have made promises to my wife and I wear a sign on my left ring finger, made of silicone because I’ve lost several of them. God, who has revealed Himself by His personal name, Yahweh, the One who has created all things, the One who has made great promises that are fulfilled in Christ… He establishes Sabbath, a day of ceasing and rest, a day of worship as a sign, a reminder, a physical and tangible symbol of His fierce love and commitment to His people.

Pull back with me for a moment and take a wide lens view, what is God doing with these first words, these 10 commandments? As we’ve said a couple times through the series thus far, Exodus 1-19 we read of God rescuing and taking Israel out of Egypt, and now as He gives a way of living, He begins to take Egypt out of the heart of Israel.

For hundreds of years God’s people have been enslaved. They worked and worked and worked. They gathered straw, made bricks, were beaten by the cruel taskmasters and the Pharaoah who postured himself as a god. Get that out of your head and heart. Let me tell you who I am and who you are. I am the God who modeled work, I created work, it is a good thing. So, you will be given dignified work in your life AND unlike Pharaoah, I am a God who provides and commands ceasing, rest, and worship.

God himself is not One who gets tired or wearied by work, yet He worked and created for 6 days and rested the 7^th. Establishing a pattern and a call on humanity to work and to rest. Through the rest of the Pentateuch, you’ll find laws that follow this pattern. Israel was to work and harvest their land for 6 years and let it rest the 7^th. Every 7^th year there would be a time of release where debts would be canceled among God’s people protecting them from generational poverty. Servants who worked for someone would give 6 years of labor before being set free and having their debt forgiven the 7^th year.

Both in Sabbath like patterns in laws, and in this 4^th commandment to work six days a week and cease on the 7^th, these were to be understood as a sign of the Mosaic covenant. This is why there were such dire consequences to those who refused to keep the Sabbath. To reject the command to cease and worship Yahweh, was to reject the special relationship that God had made with His people, it was a rejection of worship, it was a way to say, ‘I liked the ways of Egypt and their gods better’.

The sign of the Sabbath made two things crystal clear in contrast to Egypt and other surrounding nations, theologians across the ages have significant agreement on this.

First, this 4^th word of Sabbath functions as one has written, “as a brake on the temptation to idolatry… it protected the uniqueness of Yahweh as creator and redeemer”. This command builds on the first 3 we’ve covered. We are to have no other gods, not carve, make, serve, or worship idols, and we are not to treat or carry God’s name as empty, in our hearts, words, or actions. So, God creates time and space, a day to rest and reflect on who God is, to have gratitude for His rescue, and love for His person.

Second, a day of rest, for all people, I’ll quote here, “including servants and temporary workers, it functions ‘as a brake on the temptation to economic exploitation and oppression… thus preserving the social liberation that reflects the character of Yahweh’”

This sign called Sabbath was a real, tangible, and physical way to love God and to love your neighbor and to give them what they need, rest and a relationship with Yahweh. This should remind us of the greatest commands given by the Lord Jesus Christ. Sabbath aids God’s people in loving Him and others.

That’s a good segue, we’ve seen the goodness of work, the sign of Sabbath, and now: The Invitation of Christ. Harkening back on our language from the book of Hebrews, the Old Covenant is obsolete, we no longer relate to God under this old system. The Sabbath is no longer a sign of the covenant between God and His people.

By the time Jesus comes on the scene in redemptive history, we find Jewish people struggling to properly understand how to keep the Sabbath. The call to cease, stop, and remember and worship had turned into detailed lists of ‘Do NOT DO THIS’. Life was still valuable, people and animals had to eat, they should be rescued if in harm, and so on. Some had missed the heart of the command and created ritual. This is easy to do in any religious setting, even ours today.

If a new era has been inaugurated with the coming of Jesus, if the good news of his death and resurrection changes things, how does the Christian relate to the Sabbath today? This is a debated subject, yet there are a few things that are clear.

Jesus speaks directly on the Law and the Sabbath. The New Covenant, this promise relationship, it does not signify that Jesus has abolished the Law, including our 4^th word today. He’s come to live it, fulfill it, inform it, and shape it in His people.

We find Jesus’ interactions with religious people on the Sabbath bringing a lot of heat and debate. When He ate with or served others on the Sabbath day, it was perceived as unlawful work. Yet Jesus fully embodied the call to cease and worship God, because the Son of Man, He is the Lord of the Sabbath.

What we find is that the legal requirement on taking Saturday as a cease day is no longer dictated for Christians, however, this command continues as a principle for rest and worship today.

As we covered recently as a church as we went through the book of Hebrews, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. In warning us to not be like an unbelieving generation who heard and rebelled in the wilderness in ancient Israel, we are encouraged to strive to actively seek the peace, security, and covenant blessing that rest and worship points to in the Lord Jesus. This goes beyond physical rest, this is covenantal, reconciling rest that will be fulfilled in the New Heavens and Earth.

Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, is our Sabbath. He is the place, the sign, and where this command points us to today. The 4^th commandment points us to final rest found in Christ. We understand as Christians that we are to cease and turn in worship to God through Jesus’p; work on the cross.

This is what Jesus has in mind in His invitation. Right before He announces himself as Lord of the Sabbath, in Matthew 11:28 Jesus offers to those who are weary from labor, come I will give you rest. He goes on to offer a yoke, a weight, and a burden that is light. You will still work, you will still have a life and God’s ways to follow, but if you come to me, if you strive to enter what I’m holding before you, you will be able to cease, rest, enjoy.

This is why it has been the practice of God’s people for over 2,000 years to cease and worship on Sunday. Today is our day, to stop for a moment and remember our great covenantal God who rescued us from sin and death. Before Christ, we labored and worked, toiled and suffered, like Israel under Egypt we felt as though we carried bricks all the time. On the Lord’s Day, on the day He rose and overcame the grave as his death secured redemption and forgiveness we take a moment to cease and honor the Triune God who has provided access, joy, forgiveness, and eternal delight through Jesus.

As we will do each week in this series, we must ask how this command is practically fleshed out in each of our lives. There has been a traditional framing to humbly ask how the Law is used by the Christian.

The Law, this 4^th command is given to restrain evil in us and around us. Understanding it’s connection to the first 3 commands is paramount. Taking time to cease and to worship guardrails us from our very real temptations to have other gods, create and worship idols, and take and carry God’s name in empty ways. This command, republished in Christ, it is not an interruption to your life, it is a means of grace that God has given to protect you and others.

Second, this command is a mirror that shows us God and ourselves more clearly. Do you see God’s heart for His people? Do you see why this was a sign with Israel and why it is something Hebrews 4 says we strive toward in Christ? God is worthy of your affection, He moves and works and commands for the glory of His great name, He knows your relationship and worship of Him will bring you rest and delight.

Connected to that we see ourselves and our failure in this command. Some of us do not treat work with honor and we hardly give ourselves to it. Some live in perpetual over-rest and struggle to have good categories for how ceasing is good as we tie it with worship. Many of us fail in over-work, finding reasons to not cease, to not worship. We might even have good balances in work and rest but we never marry it with worship and all our recreation still leaves us weary. This command shows us afresh our need for a Savior, for this first time, or for the 1,000^th time to redeem and rescue and enable us.

Third, the call to cease and worship should morally guide our lives.

Living for Jesus, connected to Him now at all times by the Spirit, it is right that this command should guide us toward patterns of ceasing and worship throughout our weeks and our life. Personal devotions, listening to music, praying individually, with your spouse, children, or friends, taking time to stop and recognize God’s provision before a meal, stopping to recollect God’s providence in your day as you go to bed, taking a day to get away before the Lord… these are all good things.

Yet, Faithful followers of Christ recognize the creation pattern, the sign for Israel, and the call on believers to obey these good words. As the pastor says in Hebrews 10, we should not neglect the gathering on the Lord’s Day, this is a unique opportunity to cease and worship that we should make a priority. Being a part of the Body, setting aside a unique opportunity to stop and give sustained attention, honor, and recognition to God’s work in your life, it is part of the mold that God established in the beginning with His own labor and resting.

God wants you to stop and worship. While there are some nuance and variation to this command, while there will be seasons and circumstances that force us to be creative in how we apply this consistently in the life God has given us, it is a good word for us to hear.

Again, from the late Jim Anderson:
“A culture that has no time for rest has no time for holiness and no time for God. That is the culture that flows in me. For God’s sake, that culture must be drained from my veins each week. As I get rightly configured by entering a Sabbath rest, time itself becomes insignificant.”

He would go on to argue that Sabbath rest brings us into a different time zone, God’s zone. Where we begin to put Him and his work above our own.

Ask God to recalibrate the way you think about ceasing and rest. They are good gifts to receive and I hope you enjoy the sweetness of recreation, family, sleep, and everything else. But may we be more concerned about God’s divine pleasure than our human needs and wants. May we see the entirety of our lives, including our rest, as an opportunity to increase the name of Jesus in our hearts and the world around us. May we learn the beauty of Sabbath rest and invite others into it as well.

I came across one quote that put it this way:
“Every Sabbath in Israel whispered that a better rest was coming. Every seventh day pointed beyond itself. Then one day Jesus stood and said, “Come to me.” The rest you have been searching for isn’t ultimately found in a calendar but in a Savior. Every Lord’s Day we gather because the true Sabbath has come. We cease because Christ finished the work we never could.”

Or again as Jim put it…

“As parents and grandparents take pleasure in their sleeping children, so God takes pleasure in our rest.”

We come to the 3^rd word of what is known as the 10 commandments. The last two weeks we’ve come to see that the Law is a thoroughly Christian document. Unlike the 613 laws we find through the Torah, also called the Pentateuch, the first 10 words, the 10 commandments given in Exodus 20 are moral laws that have been republished by Jesus. In the New Covenant, each of these words are further informed and shaped by the gospel.

So brought before us has been the holy call to have no other gods, to not carve or make images, or bow down and serve or worship them. As we’ve done the last two weeks, to frame our time this morning, I’ll ask a question:

What does your life say about God’s name?

I’m not certain you or I, or those around us think this carefully in our normal day to day life. In fact, I would make the argument that, especially as Western thinkers, we compartmentalize our lives and often see little to no connection to the different parts of it. My religious life is over here, my work life is here, my family life is in this corner, my hobbies and entertainment are separate, how I handle money is here… and they aren’t connected, at least consistently connected, through anything, expect perhaps that they are part of your life.

There also is often a disconnect between what we think, what we believe, what we say, and how we live. A vivid conversation comes to mind where someone told me that they believe the 10 commandments and live by them. That’s what they said, but further discussion revealed they didn’t live by them, and they whole heartedly disagreed with how Jesus applied them to not just our actions but our thoughts and our hearts.

And that is the human dilemma, is it not? We struggle and fail to connect all of life, to all of who we are as a person and follow God. If that is you, if you compartmentalize and disconnect. If you desire your life to reflect a high view of God. If you want Him to be honored and worshipped in your heart and in the hearts of others who watch your life, God has a good word for you today in Exodus 20.

We’ll be in verses 1-7, focusing intently on verse 7. However, in reverence to the Word of God, allow me a short prayer before I read. The theologian and early church father known as Saint Gregory, prayed this words:

“(Father), help us to walk on the King’s Highway, never turning aside to the right hand or the left, and led by the Spirit through the Straight gate. May we act like children of God, wherever we are, pure and blameless.” In Jesus’ name amen.

Exodus 20:1-7, God says this to us:

And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “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.

This is the reading of God’s Word. In asking what our life says about the name of God, we’ll chew on 3 aspects of this 3^rd command that will aid us considerably.

First, think with me on: The Great Worth of His Name. It’s easy for us to hear a word in not taking God’s name in vain and forget that there is a right way to honor it. Throughout the Old Testament, there are over 6 thousand times God’s personal name is used. In Genesis 2, it is Yahweh, that creates the world, and everything in it, most notably His image bearers in humanity.

In Genesis 12 it is Yahweh who makes a promise to Abraham. In Exodus 3 it is Yahweh who shares this personal name with Moses. In the Psalms and throughout the Old Testament, God’s people are instructed to ascribe glory to His name, to sing of His name, call upon His name, trust in His name, fear his glorious and awesome name.

This 3^rd word in Exodus 20, should be understood to contain both a negative and positive call on the lives of God’s people. We’ll talk about the negative in a moment, but positively, there is great worth in the name of God. This has been true of many cultures, including the Jewish culture, names were not merely a way to distinguish one person from other, names signified the essence of the person themselves. A name communicated value and character.

This is what we see God do in Exodus 3 when Moses is recorded as the first human to ever be given God’s name, Yahweh, meaning I am who I am. Self-existent, powerful, eternal, inexhaustible and independent of all things, even His creation, God’s name reveals His worthiness.

Now you might wonder why the name Yahweh doesn’t show up in most English bibles. The reason for that is because of the great worth of that name and the sincere desire to not take His name in vain or handle it in an irreverent way. Let me show you why they did this, and it should prove to be both interesting and helpful as we also seek to rightly understand this command. It’s a bit academic, but it illustrates the positive side of this 3^rd command through history.

The personal name of God, it is concealed in most translations. Jewish tradition showed great worth by not speaking the name Yahweh in case they failed to honor it correctly. Even modern Jews today, they will not say ‘Yahweh’, they’ll likely say ‘HaShem’, meaning ‘The Name’. So, whenever God’s name came up in the text, they would write LORD, all in capital letters. When you read your Bible and see this, the Hebrew word Yahweh is behind there and out of respect they are using the word, Lord.

Now, there also are times when the Scriptures refer to God’s title as Lord, and they don’t reference His name, but call Him Adonai. Notice the second line. When you come across Lord with only the first letter capitalized, this is a reference to His title.

So where do we get the name Jehovah? You may be aware, but this is not a biblical word, it’s not found in Hebrew, Greek, or Latin. This name is a gibberish word made up by scribes, it’s not real. History documents this well, but I’ll put it at the bottom of the screen to help us visualize it. When scribes came to the word and the name of God, Yahweh, to remind themselves and those who read it, to not say the name Yahweh, they inserted the vowels from the title Adonai to remind them to say Lord instead. You can see that on the screen. Jehovah is not a word, but scribal notes to remind them to not say Yahweh.

This is why you will never meet a Jew who uses the name Jehovah. Catholics are pretty consistent on this as well. When Hebrew and Greek manuscripts were brought into Latin, and when they were passed down to other languages, the scribal inserts of the vowels were wrongly understood as a word and thus ‘Jehovah’ has become its own tradition. Famously the King James version inserts Jehovah in a few places instead of using the Hebrew name Yahweh.

So, I’ll admit, I chuckle a bit when I see bible studies, or hear songs and discussion where people use Jehovah, Moses and Jesus might look at us funny. Perhaps the same way someone looks at a Minnesotan when they say the word, ‘uff da’. You know that’s not a real word right.

What’s the point? Let me say right now before you get worried, if you want to use Jehovah, you are free to do so, there is nothing wrong with that tradition. What I want us to focus on is what lead to the tradition that God’s people have carried for thousands of years. It is informed by this command in our passage. Where even in spelling, especially in our words and actions, a tradition of showing great worth to the name of God. Showing honor, significance, and showing care with a name that presents God’s essence and character. May we with David in Psalm 8 declare, “O Yahweh, our Adonai” (or in our English versions, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” We’ll come back to this.

That’s a focus on the positive side of His name, let’s get to the negative side and the actual command and warning put before us as we look at: The Prohibition of Vanity. Look down at verse 7 again with fresh eyes.

If we are not to TAKE the name of God in vain, what exactly does this entail? This can point to a broad range of activities, and we see several of them in the Scriptures. More woodenly, you could say that we are not to lift up, bear, or carry God’s name. Yet as we said, we are encouraged to do so positively, so taking God’s name, bearing it up wrongly doesn’t become clear until we pair our taking with vanity.

Like all words, there is a range of meaning with vanity. It has the idea of emptiness, so vanity can simply refer to nothingness. You ask your spouse, what are you thinking? They say ‘vanity, nothing, emptiness’. It also can mean emptiness of speech. I tell a lie, I exaggerate my words, I speak false words. Commonly, vanity can also point us to worthlessness, someone’s conduct that is empty, false, and void of virtue.

Put that all together and there are at least 3 broad ways we are prohibited from taking or lifting up God’s name in vain.

First, we are not to treat it as empty. God says through the prophet Isaiah, they draw near with their mouth, they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. This would be the exact opposite posture of the careful tradition of God’s name we considered earlier. This kind of vanity is speaking highly, singing loudly, putting on an external display of affection for God, for His name, His ways… yet His name is empty, worthless, and fake in your heart. You could be saying right things, even doing right things, but God’s name is taken in vain.

Second, perhaps most immediately thought of in our mind is literally speaking God’s name in an empty way. Found in Leviticus are two separate but similar examples of this. God says we are not to swear by his name falsely. This has the idea of swearing an oath of truth, invoking God’s name as proof, and lying any way. In the Middle Ages English courts would require people to swear to tell the truth by swearing upon God’s Word. This is where we get our traditions in court rooms and those making oaths for public office, they swear to God they will be faithful. If they are lying, it’s taking God’s name in vain and invoking God’s punishment on themselves.

Likewise, we see in Leviticus 24 that we are not to blaspheme the name of the Lord, we are not to speak of God’s name in vain, empty, false, or worthless ways. If you are flippantly using God’s name as a curse word, if you are using phrases like, O my God, that are not acts of prayer, if you use God’s name as an insult or joke, it is a vain word that God prohibits.

Third, broadly speaking, taking or bearing God’s name can be done in action that lowers God’s name. God through the prophet Ezekiel declares, “I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations.” When God’s people sin, especially when we deliberately choose to, it makes God look bad, vain, and empty to the people around us. There are actions, that when we do them, it causes people to curse, ignore, or hate the God we claim to follow. This is seen all through the Old Testament, and sadly it’s seen in each of our lives. We claim to be His people, yet we live lives that lower His name in our hearts and in others.

For a moment, look back down at Exodus 20:7, what does God say? Whether in heart, in words, or actions, when we treat God’s name as empty, look what it says, ‘the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.’ Almost as a way to say, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you”. This sin does have consequence, God has given commands for us to have no other gods, to not make and worship images, and to understand that God’s name and his essence and character are so tied together, that to play loosely with His name is to reject who He is.

That’s sobering. So, progress now from the worth of His great name, the prohibition of vanity, lastly to consider: The Life of Honoring. The command expressed in the negative, ‘do not take God’s name in vain’, is to be understood through the heart and intention of God. He desires His Name to be honored and for you to be the recipient of joy and satisfaction as you do this in your life. Sometimes these first words, the 10 commandments, are understood as simply a list of rules, a list of do not’s. Rather, as we’ve covered the last two weeks, they were given in the context of grace as an invitation to a promise relationship with God as a way to respond to His love.

This call on our life continues and has been republished by Jesus in the New Covenant for Christians today. There are several examples, but I’ll point out just two. As Jesus instructs us on the sermon on the mount in how we are to pray, we are to address our Heavenly Father, and say, believe, and posture in our hearts that His name is hallowed.

Similarly, Paul writes and speaks a plain word that the name of God is being blasphemed, considered low and empty among non-believers, because of the conduct of those who call themselves followers of God. This is not to be. God’s call on your life is to not treat His name in empty ways.

Every so often, in the life of the church, there needs to be time and space to flesh out the ideas of technical terms. I love to keep the cookies on the bottom shelf, I want Exodus 20 to be accessible to everyone, AND I have a teacher’s heart that would aid you in seeing the fullness of the gospel and how the work of Jesus practically applies to you.

The good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection deeply informs how we understand the 3^rd commandment. Specifically, I want to make a tight connection between Jesus’ death and this commandment by fleshing out the multi-faceted way God has worked so you can honor His name.

Jesus’ work on the cross has expiated and removed the guilt of your breaking of this command in taking His name in vain. That death atoned for sin in a great exchange so now when God looks at you, He sees His Son’s righteousness covering you. All of this is part of the propitiation, the turning away of God’s wrath, your playing loose with God’s name, not being held against you. Because, like Israel, you’ve been redeemed, purchased, and bought out of slavery, in grace and love God has acted and beared you up on eagle’s wings. This is how God reconciles and brings us near. The death of Jesus, in all of it’s multi-faceted elements it informs how you and I relate to Exodus 20.

And this is why we hold precious the revealed name of the God man, the Son, the 2^nd person of the Trinity, Jesus. As Hebrews 1 told us this past Spring, He has spoken, He is the radiance of God and imprint of His nature, He is a fuller revelation of God. The gospel informs who we treat and speak of God and His name.

The 10 words given by God on the mountain, we do not relate to them the same way Israel did. These commands brought clarity to God and His ways, but there was no power to receive them and follow them. This is what makes the good work of Jesus so precious to the faithful follower of Christ. He has died and rose again to bring forgiveness, cleansing, and power so you and I can honor the Triune God and His name in the life He’s given us.

How can we practically do this?

First, this word has been given to restrain evil in you and around you. Allow Exodus 20 to be a reminder that it is an evil and terrible thing to externally put on a show and treat God’s name as empty in your heart. It is an evil thing for us to take oaths in God’s name and lie, it’s evil to use God’s name as a curse word, or to say His name as a thoughtless phrase when we are surprised. And it is an evil thing for you and I to act in ways that make the world around us think poorly of God.

Second, this command is a mirror. I pray that this has been a clearer revelation of God. That should in a positive way inform our celebration and worship of Him and sing and cherish who He is. But, this also should be a revelation of who we are. Today, in a fresh way, we see our failing, our lack of honoring, and our need of Jesus’ work, His promises, and His teachings to further shape us. We need rescue.

Third, ‘do not take the Lord’s name in vain’, this should morally guide our lives. Several times this week, tempted to think, speak, or act in ways I know to be sin, these words guided me. I asked myself, ‘If I do this, does this honor God’s name?’ Would the name of Jesus be more precious to my wife because of how I’ve treated, loved, and cherished her? When I come to sing with my brothers and sisters on Sunday morning, I’m praying, God help my external actions to be met with true internal affection so your name is properly elevated in my mind and heart.

Or as we asked at the start:
What does your life say about God’s name?

God is passionate to see His Name and His Being loved and cherished by you and by the world we live in. He has great zeal for His glory; He moves and works for His name’s sake. And the means in which He loves to do this is through the lives of faithful followers of Christ. Your life is to be a display of His glory, your life is to communicate and say to others, “Look at our great God”. In His kindness, we do not have to become someone else, we don’t have pursue a certain kind of career, your family situation doesn’t require some cookie cutter shape, your personality and intellect do not need to conform to some arbitrary expectation.

Rather, you, just how God has made you. Your life, just as He’s given it. You have the privilege, delight, and joy to cherish God’s name and ask Him to use you to tell others of Him. This is both done with our character and in our words. Live faithfully and open your mouth, tell someone about Jesus this week. Because there is no other name in which we may be saved, there is no other name that brings forgiveness, there is no other name that we elevate, there is no other name we delight in and worship.

Benediction:
“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Phil 2:9-11

Last Sunday we introduced the necessity to come to the 10 commandments with a thoroughly Christian framework. If you weren’t here, it may be helpful to go back and watch at least the first half of the sermon where we discovered that the Old Testament and the Law specifically, is a Christian document. These words given to Israel under the Mosaic Covenant, have been fulfilled and are not abolished in Christ. The Law, while obsolete in covenant terms, it is no longer the way we relate to God, it is still to be followed as it has real value and use in Christian life as these moral truths are reaffirmed in the gospel.

The Law was and still is today a context of grace. God lovingly rescued Israel on eagles’ wings and then gave them a way of living to follow. He does the same with us. So, we continue a careful and nuanced approach as we dive further into these 10 words, known as the 10 commandments. For our purposes this morning, our main idea will be formed in a question like this: What are your secrets beneath the Misty Mountain?

A few weeks ago, pastor Jarrod referenced the heroic tale of Frodo and Sam in the Lord of the Rings. Today, in contrast, I want to point us to the precursor to that story by reflecting on a location found in the story the Hobbit, specifically a cave. A creature named Gollum lived here and it was where he lost his ‘precious’. If you’re familiar with the story, it is a powerful and beautiful ring that captured and corrupted his heart. The ring was a physical carving and creation that he worshipped. It was his idol, it was his god, it was what brought him temporary joy and ultimately terrible sorrow and death.

That story has it’s beginning, its worldview, it’s inspiration from texts like the 10 commandments. First with Israel, under a specific covenant, and now with us in Jesus in a new covenant, God calls us to a joyful following, loyalty, a singular love of Him. The first words in our text today lay this out clearly.

What we will come to see is that you and I are very much like Gollum, splashing around and telling riddles in dark caves, loving things, even good things, that have the potential to bring us great harm. Or to say it another way: We want proof. God’s words and promises, those are nice and all, but I need more. If you struggle with following or creating false gods, if you have idols that allure you and you can’t seem to shake them, if you are coming here longing for a true and full satisfaction that can only be found in God, well He has a word for you and me.

God says this to us in Exodus 20:1-6:

And God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

As we contemplate the question of our secrets beneath the Misty Mountain we’ll focus on two aspects of these first words known as the first two commandments.

We’ll start with: The Prohibition of Creating & Worshipping. You may be aware, but through Christian history there has been some variance as it relates to the numbering of the 10 words before us. Many cite verse 3 as the first command, ‘you shall have no other gods’, and then understand verses 4 and 5 are the sum of the second, ‘you shall not make a carved image and bow down’. Others have understood both these words as a single unit as the initial requirement, decree, expectation, and foundation for God’s people.

Regardless how you number them, we are told from God himself, who we are not to worship, other gods, and how we are not to worship them, carved images. Said in the positive, God gives clarity how we are to celebrate and honor Him alone and begins to offer to us form in what appropriate worship entails.

As we did last week, we need to reflect further on the events surrounding God’s people at this point in history. They had just been rescued and redeemed out of slavery. The first 19 chapters of Exodus document the historical narrative of God getting Israel out of Egypt. Now on the mountain, God begins His good work of getting Egypt out of the hearts of Israel.

The first word, ‘you shall have no other gods before me’, in verse 3, it’s a call to abandon the complex polytheism and worship of many gods. That’s the who. If you inspect verse 4 and 5 carefully, we see the second word has two parts to it. Do not create or make a carved image, verse 4. Do not bow down and serve them, verse 5. This is the how.

Historians who’ve spent time studying the Ancient Near East have written about many gods, many idols, and many images that have been uncovered through archeological digs through the years. This picture is on display at a Museum in Israel today. These are understood as Canaanite creations that represented Pharaoh. This was very common, you’ll even read of it through the Scriptures, people creating and worshipping idols that represented gods. It was understood and practiced that if you put these carved images in your temple, the presence of the deity would be there with you and ultimately bless you.

God will not permit idols, his self-disclosure, through His words and through His signs and wonders, it was sufficient, hence the command to not create an image of Him. Yahweh through the Scriptures, is at times revealed in part. Some of his glory, visions of Him, messengers, etc.… but it is always veiled and shadowy. As writers record through the Old and New Testament, no one can truly see God and live. Which makes the incarnation of Jesus so special, God comes in flesh as Savior, but also a gracious revealing of His image. God forbids our making of His image because He has would later and did provide Jesus in the flesh.

I read this week, that for someone to create an image of the true God would be a claim to know what God himself had deliberately hidden from human view. He has intentionally not given us an image of Himself.

Why might that be the case? Wouldn’t it be better for Israel and us if we could just see Him? This prohibition of creating and worshipping carved idols signals to us that God is beyond nature and cannot be fully represented by it. The command of no images protects the concept of God as the one who speaks, feels, and acts, contrary to some carved wood that is static, immobile, deaf, and dumb.

No images protects people from our natural bent to combine different views of God into one and creating our own idea of who He is. And so, without exception, Israel was to follow the two-fold expectation laid out, do not create an image, and do not bow down to it. This seems to be quite exhaustive, look at the language surrounding verse 4 in your Bible.

No carved image, or likeness of anything in heaven above, in the earth below, in the water under the earth, verse 4. As a way to cover every inch, every possible locale, where you may find images. If you look high, on plain, or the lowest you can go, you are not to make images of God or false gods in the likeness of what you may see in the created world.

For a moment, stop to wrestle with the very human condition we all find ourselves in. Why is it that we might be tempted to create something physical and worship it? Before you answer that personally, let me give you a peek forward, not long after Exodus 20.

The book of Exodus spends several chapters up on the mountain as God reveals the first words, the 10 commandments, and then further laws that expound on them. In addition, careful instruction is given for the building of the tabernacle. By the time you get to Exodus 32, we find that the people of Israel were starting to worry. Moses had been up on that mountain for quite a long time. And it wasn’t so much that they were worried for him, but for themselves. If Moses is gone, perhaps God is gone. The silence of the waiting is too much. We’re out here at this mountain in the wilderness, who will show up? Who will lead? Is God still among us?

The uncomfortable silence, the very human desire for tangible proof, led to Aaron and all the people to melt their gold and take a tool and carve an image, a golden calf. This calf was the physical presence of the gods who rescued them out of Egypt they thought. We need God with us, and here He is!

That is why our hearts are bent toward creating and worshipping. We want proof. God’s words and promises, those are nice and all, but I need more. My faith is weak; my circumstances and fear loom large. I will make and bow down and be blessed. I will feel safe. I want something physical and tangible to hold onto that I feel… something I can do, create, and make me feel like something good is happening.

For Israel, God lays down this prohibition and says no carved images, no worshipping of them. Whether you are seeking to make something that holds my presence or running to the gods of the culture around you or even the gods of your own creation. The who and the how of God’s adoration is determined by Him and not us. We find God’s people struggling with this mightily all through the Old Testament. Jacob had to tell this family to put away foreign gods. The king Jeroboam made calves of gold. The prophet Ezekiel mourns and warns against idols in the people’s hearts. Political gods and idols of Egypt, Assyria, and other surrounding nations are wrongly worshipped.

But I’ll remind you, this is all in the context of grace. God saves and redeems them, then gives a Law to follow. Obedience to the Law for Israel did not save them. The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional agreement. If you obey and choose to follow my ways, I will give you covenant blessings in the land, it will be full of milk and honey, iPhones and crumble cookies. If you disobey, cursing will come, Deuteronomy 28, you will be overtaken and the land will be destroyed. Many of us know the story, they failed this conditional covenant and while they had times of blessing, they ultimately experienced the cursing.

Let’s stop for a moment and ask, if this command, however you slice up the first words, the command to have no other gods, to not carve images and bow down to them, if this was given in a singular time to the political/national/religious people called Israel under the Old Covenant. If that Old Covenant, the old way of relating to God is obsolete, how does the coming of Jesus inform these words? Are the first two words and commands in Exodus 20 still in effect?

In short, absolutely, yes. God’s people are no longer under the legal demands of the Old Covenant, yet these 10 words, focusing especially on these first two, have not been abolished. Contrary to the 613 laws that you find in the Torah, these first two are republished, reinforced, and more fully revealed at the heart level in Christ, His gospel, and His teaching.

Jesus, speaking to a woman at a well, informs her that God is spirit and our worship is to be in spirit and truth. This protects her and us from coming to the wrong conclusion that physical temples are the sole location of God’s presence. Even good things like worship spaces are not to be idolized.

Through the transition of the early church, Paul and Barnabas are worshipped and idolized and Paul tells them to turn from these vain, empty, and sinful things. The Jerusalem Council, leaders debating the relationship between the Christian and the Law of Moses, they say that things polluted by idols are to be avoided. If you think back to our fall series last year in 1 John, the pastor finishes his letter by saying, ‘Little children, keep yourselves from idols’. The command to not create or bow down to idols continues.

Jesus, famously said in the sermon on the mount. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The Lord amplifies and deepens the first words in Exodus 20. The physical creation of carved images and worshipping them, that is wrong. But it can often be done in the secret caves of our mind and soul beneath the Misty Mountain. Sure, sometimes we create a physical golden calf outside, but often it’s simply found in what our affections, time, money, and love are given to.

We shouldn’t spiritualize at the cost of the physical though. I do think as Evangelicals we should be more thoughtful as church history was, as it relates to images of God and the human appearance of Jesus and what we create in art, movies, etc... But at the heart level, what is it that you are carving and worshipping, and elevating in your life?

There is a tendency in the human heart to create idols out of almost anything. It could be a veneration of Mary or saints people pray to for blessing as they represent something of the divine. Our personal schedules become our god as we carve them as full or light as we dream. We bow down to our phones as we doomscroll and give more affection to the comfort of entertainment than wisdom would have us. The joy of physical intimacy between a husband and wife, the companionship of a good friend, the new vehicle, our beauty or ability in sports, our favorite hobbies of reading, hiking, fishing, and hunting.

We too often fall into the trap of treasuring the creation rather than the Creator that all these things point us to. When we enjoy good things, we protect ourselves from idolatry by thinking, believing, and saying, “God, you gave this to me, thank you. I love you, even if you took this away.” The command to have no idols is still our call today, the way He has chosen to reveal Himself is sufficient. There is still a prohibition to carving and worshipping anything other than God. Lord help us.

Second, I’d like us to look back at our Exodus 20 passage and consider: The Outcome of Choosing. Sometimes we read and receive the words, the commands and skip over verses 5 and 6 of our passage, so look down again. Almost as a summary explanation of the first two words of ‘no other gods’ and ‘no carving and worshipping’, God communicates His character and His reason for the expectations He puts before His people.

God is a jealous God. It can be tempting to assign our cultural negative connotations to this, we often think of jealousy as a bad or poor character quality of someone. I might be jealous of your full head of hair, some may be jealous someone’s ability or outcome in life, Minnesotans are jealous of Superbowl trophies that the Packers have. There are much darker examples, but jealousy can be evil and revealing of a heart of discontentment or unbelief in God’s good working in your life.

Jealousy can also be a wonderful and good characteristic. It has the idea of zeal and joy, that is what is being described here about God. He has great passion for His people, He choose them, redeemed them, saved them, loved them, and wants their affection to be for Him. That’s why he’s given these words to follow. He loves His people. He is totally committed to them.

Now, the rest of verse 5 and 6 puts a choice before us. Described is God’s judgment, visiting the sin or the iniquity of the fathers down to the third and fourth generation of those who hate him. Or God displaying his steadfast, his covenant keeping love to thousands for those who love and keep his commandments.

This severe warning for Israel means that if they turn from God to other gods, if they create and worship images, their sin will have generational impact. This is a good word for parents, your idol worship, even in the secret cave under the mountain, it will negatively affect you, your children, and perhaps, as we see with Israel, the following generations would follow suit in the same sin, the same hatred for God and His ways. It’s generation after generation saying, ‘We want proof. God’s words and promises, those are nice and all, but I need more.’

Put before God’s people under the conditional covenant under Moses, is a choice. Turning from these words and commands brings devastation to the nation and the land. Obedience brings blessing to thousands. We’ll reference this further in the coming weeks.

But how are we to understand the outcome of choosing under the New Covenant? I have some great news for you. The conditional nature of the Old Covenant is not true with us. Our relationship with Him is unconditional, with our acceptance not dependent on our performance rather our faith rests on His performance on our behalf. No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter the idols you’ve created and worshipped physically or in your mind, there is great grace for you in the gospel of Christ.

Jesus lived a perfect life, He died on a cross to pay the penalty for your idolatry, and He rose again from the grave conquering sin and death. If you cling, believe, and trust in this work, in this Savior, you will be forgiven and changed from the inside out.

This has several implications but let me name just two.
First, Jesus’ active obedience of having no other gods, carving and worshipping no idols, He perfectly obeyed where we could not. His death and resurrection, your belief in it, it creates a great exchange that glorifies God and gives you great joy. Your sinful performance and account are wiped clean, and Jesus’ perfection is credited to your account. God looks at you and sees Jesus because you are now in Christ. Praise God!

In addition, yes there is more good news. Now, by the Spirit of God, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, He lives in you… you are no longer crushed by God’s commands, but you are enabled to joyfully receive them and follow them.

Promised through the Old Testament is a future day, a future time in which a new promise relationship will come, a day when the Old Covenant will no longer be how God’s people relate to Him. The prophet Ezekiel says it will be a day when God’s people are sealed and enabled as God causes, leads, and creates in them the ability to obey and choose God’s ways.

This Spirt empowerment is all throughout the New Testament, but I like how Paul says it in Romans 8. Jesus came and conquered sin and death so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us. God will live in us, and we will have the capacity to say yes to Him and His ways.

I hope you are deeply grateful for the time in human history that God has placed us. Israel’s choosing brought conditional blessing or cursing in the land. They had no power to fully choose the way of obedience, sin and evil griped them so tight. With the coming of Jesus is the coming of freedom, not from the chains of Egypt, but the chains of sin and evil itself.

While we still live in a broken world, while we still struggle and fight against the flesh and evil in us and around us. You, Christian, are a new creation. The old has passed, you’ve been remade. The secrets beneath the Misty Mountain can be brought to light, and you can freshly apply gospel grace as you seek to not carve, create, worship, and bow down to the idols that the factory in your heart has clung to.

The commands to have no other gods, and to not have and create or worship idols, it has been republished. Jesus calls you to this law. Creation even, in the coming days, I’ll reference how the Natural Law affirms these 10 words of Old across all cultures and eras.

Let’s finish like we did last week, very practically. Children, just as a reminder. If you are 12 years and old younger, if you memorize the 3 uses of the Law and the 10 commandments before the end of the Summer, you can come to me and recite them and I’ll write your name down and give you a gift for your diligent study of God and His ways.

As Christians it’s tempting to conflate God’s law to a singular use, but all 3 are to be practiced. The 10 commandments restrain evil, they are a mirror of revelation that show us God’s character, our character, and our need. And these commands are a moral guide for our life.

In light of these uses, here is an aid to apply these first words in Exodus 20.
Ask God to reveal and restrain evil in you and around you. Let me quickly read Acts 17:16, ‘Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols’. It spurred Paul to preach the gospel, to tell others of Jesus to bring about salvation, and to restrain and protect people made in God’s image from following false gods.

Second, contemplate God’s jealous character. He loves you, He’s moved and worked to draw you near. See this command as part of God’s heart for you. See this command as a mirror of your failing, and your need of Jesus and the Spirit’s enablement in your life.

Third, would you right now write down two idols you need to die to… Contemplate your life, look at the affections of your heart. Where is your love? What are you elevating in the place of God? Use this command as a moral guide to reflect on your choices and purposefully resolve right now to obey this with God’s help.

So, I ask again: What are your secrets beneath the Misty Mountain?

Is it control, respect, comfort, preference, something else of your own creation that you bow down to? What are the things you are willing to sin and compromise in order to get more of? “What are the things that devastate you when they are threatened?” Gollum is a nasty creature, torn between good and evil, knowing both the thrill and pain of idols. Whatever is precious to you, it will control your heart and mind. Ask the Lord to reveal, to enable your repentance, and bring gospel balm and healing to your heart. Ask Him to help you be a faithful follower of Christ. Jesus is the proof. God’s words and promises, those are nice and all, and in Christ they are all I need.

Having recently just finished a series on the book of Hebrews this Spring, we now come to the difficult and nuanced reality of what is known as the 10 commandments. Our Hebrews writer, along with the rest of the New Testament writers, Jesus included, declares that the Old Covenant under Moses, the old promise relationship between God and His people is obsolete. It’s done away with. And if you fall into the trap of some of those first century recipients, if you wrongly elevate other voices to be on par with Jesus, if you think the temple needs to be rebuilt and the Levitical sacrificial system needs to be put back in place, then you flatly do not understand the implications of the gospel and the New Covenant.

Our vision is Christ and his gospel provides a new and better way for His people, Jew or Gentile, to be in relationship with God. And this is where it gets nuanced, the Old Testament is not to be unhitched from, tossed aside, or dismissed. On top of that, Christians are not anti-law. The law of Christ is our call, and we’ll come to see that though the Old Covenant Law has no legal hold over us. We do not relate to God under that old system… yet it is to be read and followed.

But how?
This has been debated for 2,000 years; you can find the first debates in the New Testament itself. If we are dead to the Law, if the Old Covenant system under Moses is not how we relate to God, what exactly is the relationship between the Law and us today? You’ll find that many Christian traditions and denominations have come to different conclusions and I’ll allude to them in our study through the rest of the summer.

As we come to the beginning of the 10 commandments, we’ll simply ask a question, and I’ll frame it like this: God and gods, who will have our heart?

One of the fundamental truths to keep in mind is that God has given us His Word to know Him and love Him. While good questions should be asked, while we should all seek to stay close to the Scriptures, strive for a full understanding of how the Bible is put together, and aim for faithful doctrinal and practical conclusions for our lives, we must keep the main thing the main thing.

The Father, Son, and Spirit, has moved, created, worked, sustained, and brought about all things so that you and I would be in sweet fellowship and joy in Him. I would be very excited as your pastor if you came away from this series understanding the Law and the Scriptures better. My deeper joy is connected but less academic. I pray the Scriptures shape your heart with a vision of God in Christ and you love and follow Him all your days.

That is a big ask, so we take our big asks to the only One who can meet them. Our text will be in Exodus 19 and 20 this morning, but before I read, in reverence to God’s Word, allow me a short prayer. From an old prayer book called ‘The Valley of Vision’.

Oh Father, ‘Flood our minds with peace beyond understanding; may our meditations be sweet, as well as our acts of worship life, liberty, joy… may we drink the streams that flow from your throne, our food is your precious Word, our defense the shield of faith, and may our hearts be more knit to Jesus.’ In His name, we pray, amen.

Reading Exodus 19:3-6 and chapter 20:1-3, God says this to us:

while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

And God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You shall have no other gods before me.”

This is the reading of God’s Word. As we answer the question of who will have our heart, we’ll spend some time on introductory matters that will frame this morning and the rest of our series.

First, we’ll briefly consider: The Law’s nature. This might strike you as odd, but how you determine the essence and character of the Law will probably determine how you read it, understand it, and try to apply it. How you flesh this out will have implications on your view of marriage, children, politics, and the redemptive purposes of God.

To aid us, I have for us on the screen, 4 broad ways that people view the nature of the Old Testament generally and the Law specifically. Several writers, pastors, and theologians through the years have carefully explained this, I’ll summarize for us.

First, we have those who view the Law as a sub-Christian document. This is often held by those who find much of the Old Testament troubling, even embarrassing. They surmise that this version of God is cruel and the only value may be from some minor prophets who speak on the need for social justice.

Second, some understand the Old Testament and the Law as non-Christian. You’ll find scholars who argue that these ancient writings are fully independent from the New Testament. Jews claim it is their holy writing, Mormons claim it in addition to the book of Mormon, even Muslims claim part of the Old Testament and Law alongside the Koran. Each view, even among some Christians, see these writings as objectively separate from Jesus.

Third, and we start to come across more common protestant evangelical Christianity, especially in the United States the past 80 years. Many understand these texts as pre-Christian. This view largely understands the Old Testament and Law as simply context for what will happen in the New Testament. They determine that aside from prophetic passages that point to the future Savior, this is largely directed for Israel and most of it is not for us.

Last, and this is the position I would argue for you to adopt; the Old Testament and the Law are indeed Christian writings, all of it is for us. Perhaps chronologically we can say they are pre-Christian in that they came before Jesus, but their very nature, the essence of what they are is Christian, they are part of our family story. Jesus and his disciples, when they first introduced Christianity found in the New Covenant, their Scripture was the Old Testament to make their case. “The Law belongs to the Christian Scriptures and finds its fulfillment in Christ.”

As we’ll see in our series, the Law is not an end to itself, these ancient writings are not complete. No one can read the Old Testament and the Law and say the story is finished. Rather, the Law is part of an ongoing redemptive story that God has written and continues to write through human history, intimately connected and more fully understood through Jesus and His teachings. Contrary to how some may divide up the Bible, the Law is not simply for the Jewish people, it is for us. Now, we’ll see the differences between the different eras, but we must not fall into the black and white thinking of the Old Testament is for Israel and the New Testament is for us. The Law is a thoroughly Christian document that should be applied by each of us today. But how? That is the question.

Here is where I’d like to take us over the next several weeks. My aim is for us to understand how Israel was given the Law, how the Law leads us to Jesus, and how all of that shapes and informs the faithful follower of Christ.

So let’s progress from the Law’s nature to: The Law’s context. If you’ll permit, allow me to tell you a story to bring us to our text that we read in Exodus 19 and 20. Toward the end of our spring series, in Hebrews 12 the writer told us that we do not belong to Mount Sinai and the Old Covenant, we belong to Mount Zion and the New Covenant. Yet the Law forces us to go back to Sinai to inspect it carefully.

The Sinai experience starts in Exodus 3. Moses is a murderer living in the wilderness. Born a Jew, rescued from a river by a princess, given a royal and privileged life under the Egyptian Pharaoh, it’s all thrown away when he kills an Egyptian to protect his people and he flees. And if you go back and read the historical narrative, when Moses meets God in a burning bush, the locale is Mount Horeb. I’ll put a few verses on the screen for us.

God lays out His plans for Moses and declares that Israel will serve God on this mountain. And what we find in the Exodus account and then repeated through the Torah and elsewhere is that Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai are the same mountain. Some suggest Horeb is the broader mountain, and Sinai is the particular peak Moses went up to meet God. We don’t know, but the Old Testament writers use the place names interchangeably.

If you’ve never read or it’s been a while, let me tell you, this history is amazing. God powerfully, using an imperfect vessel, Moses, the Lord dramatically displays His great power and goodness over Pharoah and the false gods. Through miraculous signs, God redeems, rescues, and secures His people out of slavery, leads them through Egypt, through the deep waters of the Red sea, and to the mountain of God.

This is the longest it’s ever taken me to get to the text, so look down again at Exodus 19, verses 3-6 that we already read. If you don’t understand this context, you won’t understand the Law in its Old Covenant relationship with Israel.

God recounts this story, in summary, starting in verse 4. You saw what I did to Egypt, you saw how I elevated myself, got the glory, and gave you the joy. I put you on eagle’s wings, I brought you to myself. And now that you are here, I have words, commands, covenant stipulations for you to obey. I’ll make a quick point here, and I’ll bring this up several times in the coming weeks. The Law’s context is one of grace. Just as it was in the Garden with Adam and Eve, just as it is today as a faithful follower of Christ. God graciously, acts, redeems, saves, and brings His people to Himself.

After grace has been bestowed… then commands, regulations, a way of living is put before God’s people. This is through all ages, grace precedes law. God moves, we respond. If you seek to follow the Law to earn grace you’ll struggle to understand God’s ways. All of God’s commands are good, but they will not make you good. You must be rescued, given a new residence, a new capacity, a new future, and then God’s laws and ways are given and happily received by us. Or as one writer has put it, “The law is meant not to save but to guide those who have been saved in living a life pleasing to their Savior.” This is true across all ages for all of God’s people. I’ll quote our resident camp minister and theologian, Dane Peterson, who has written, “The 10 commandments were not the price Israel had to pay to receive God’s love; they were the response of a people who had already experienced His love.”

The Law’s context is wrapped in love and grace. We’ll continue to wrestle with the Law’s nature and context as we go through the series, I can’t say everything today. For our purposes this morning I’d like us to address the first word, the first command, the first stipulation as we see: The Law’s monotheism. We are told to have one God.

If you look down again, this time at Exodus 20, we see God speaking, reminding them of the grace of His redemptive work, many writers understand verses 1 and 2 to be a preamble or introduction to the covenant being put forward. Verse 3 is short, so I’ll read it again: “You shall have no other gods before me.” You may have a little note in the bottom of your copy of the Scriptures that says it could be rendered, ‘You shall have no other gods besides me.’ We’ll come to see that this command is given first because it is foundational to all the others. If we get this first one wrong, it flows downstream and affects our following of all of them.

I’ll do this with each of the commands, we’ll see what this means for Israel, how the coming of Jesus informs it, and what that means for the Christian today.

First, with Israel. Many have described the first 19 chapters of Exodus as God’s work to get Israel out of Egypt, with the proceeding chapters as God’s work to get Egypt out of the hearts of Israel. And why might that need to happen?

The reason for that is in the Ancient Near East, and Egyptian culture specifically, there was a firm but complicated structure of polytheism, a belief and following of many gods. In Egypt’s case the Pharoah played the role of king, religious ruler, and being a god himself. You may be aware of this; you even find traces of it in the Old Testament Scriptures as Israel struggles with this first word of loyalty and allegiance. In that time and culture victorious nations would take the deities, gods, and religious artifacts from other nations and display them in their own temple. It was a way to declare superiority and often it came with the aim to accumulate several gods to be on their side to secure blessing.

The true God, the Father and Creator of all, the One who has made promises to humanity through the coming offspring of Eve and the descendent of Abraham. The God who conquered Egypt and the lesser and false deities of the culture, He now comes to Israel and says, I’m going to get Egypt out of you, I’m calling you to loyalty to me alone.

And so, starting with the most foundational command, the first word that must be given and followed, you shall have no other gods before or besides me, you are to be a monotheistic people in your belief and in your conduct. All throughout the Old Testament, in the Law, Prophets, and Writings, this prohibition, expectation is set and demaned to be followed. Love one God, no one besides Him, no bowing, love, affection, or allegiance to the strange gods of the cultures around you.

Now very carefully look back at our text in Exodus 19:5-6. Remember, the relationship is in the context of grace, so what is the purpose of the Law for Israel? These verses tell us that the Law is the covenant paperwork, the stipulations for Israel to follow if they want to remain close to God and receive blessing in the land. You can go to Deuteronomy, starting in chapter 28, and read of all the conditional blessings or cursing depending on how God’s people follow the covenant.

I’ll likely repeat this every week, the OT Law, and the Mosaic Covenant as a whole, was given to a national, political, religious people called the nation of Israel. It was a singular time in history where God moved and worked within a theocracy, God was to be the supreme ruler where His laws and words dictated the private life of His people and the public life of the land.

Now most theologians across faith traditions agree that the Law reveals the character of God, it also guardrails God’s people, warning them away from sin… I’ll mention another purpose in a moment, but like Adam and Eve, Israel is given a Law within a land, already in a relationship based on grace, and told that if they obeyed the Laws given, having no other gods in this instance, that they would either receive covenant joy or sorrow.

I’ll come back to much of this next week as well. So, we stop and ask, how does the coming of Jesus, his life, teaching, death, and resurrection inform and speak on this first word from God at Sinai?

From the lips of Jesus, extending out to the disciples and New Testament writers who continued the Lord’s teaching, the worship of the One True God is affirmed. God alone is to be worshipped, not money, not lesser false gods of the culture, not sports heroes or politicians, for the younger among us, not even Mr. Beast or Buzz and Woody from Toy Story. Clearly, the teaching of Jesus and the New Covenant affirms and republishes this command. Worship Him only, you cannot serve multiple gods, objectively there is one true God over, through, and in all.

We are forced to consider that the polytheism and the subjective beliefs of the ancient near east is just as true in our culture. Instead of the Lord, we give our loyalty, time, and affection to false views of God or the gods of: comfort, security, reputation, success, family, self-expression, personal choice and autonomy, and much more…

I came across one quote that put it this way:
“We no longer bow before statues of Ra or Osiris. We bow before calendars, bank accounts, political identities, sports schedules, and our own preferences. The ancient world trusted carved gods to secure life. We trust careers, retirement accounts, and public approval to do the same thing.”

Contrary to how we or others might be tempted to treat Law and this first word and command, it is not abolished. Jesus’ fulfillment does mean that He perfectly obeyed where we could not, that is true. But fulfillment in the New Testament brings a much deeper meaning. We never want to overlook His work. His perfect life, sacrificial death, and resurrection is why the Old Covenant and its legal demands are no longer over us; we covered that in Hebrews. AND, in fulfillment, Jesus is what the Law points us to. Paul explains it well in Romans 10:4 when he says that Jesus is the end, or more literally, the final goal, of the law. We are to read the Law and its end is to lead us to see Jesus.

Through Jesus we see more fully the purposes of the Law, and they are nuanced. We mentioned already the civil aspects; the Law was given to guardrail sin. As I drive through town and the speed limit is posted for 30 mph, it’s given to restrain all the lead foot grandmas who blow past me in my old rusted out Ford. The Law found under the Old Covenant bears witness to the empirical reality that humanity is broken, rebellious, sinful, and needing divine restraint, instruction, and curbing.

Second, as it relates to the Law’s and Jesus’ monotheism, we see more fully that the Law is to be a mirror. The Old Testament Law in particular, the first word given in our Exodus passage, have no other gods besides me, it shows us who God is in his character, and it shows who we are in our need. This is true of all the laws but especially in what we know as the 10 commandments. Jesus is the goal; he is the end of the law. These commands graciously give us a clearer understanding of who God is and who we are.

This is what the apostle Paul had in mind in Galatians 3 when he said, ‘the law was our guardian (our school master and teacher) until Christ came.’ Under this use of the Law, we are to read the 10 commandments and ask, ‘Who? Who can follow this?’ Certainly not us, Jesus is the end goal of the law, the law is to point you to Him and your need of a Savior.

So now we consider the third, the Law is a moral guide. It teaches us how a redeemed person should actually live. This can be understood inb different ways, but broadly I’ll describe it in two ways. Under the Old Covenant it was a Law to follow in order to secure blessing over the unique national/political/religious people called Israel. For the Church, the Laws that are republished by Jesus and the New Testament writers, the additional laws of Christ given to us, they still bring imperative, direction and guidance in the Christian life.

There’s a real temptation for us as New Covenant Christians to emphasize the Law as a mirror and ignore the others. Remember, the Old Testament is a Christian document. While there are nuanced opinions and variation on some of these things, this much is clear; the command to have no other god is still in affect today.

So in a real practical, nuts and bolts kind of way, how are we to take the first commandment and apply it today? You shall have no other gods before or besides me.

Using the framework of the 3 uses of the Law, we can volitionally, joyfully, and faithfully follow these words.

First, we pray and ask God to enable obedience in us. God shape our hearts to not choose evil, to not worship false gods of the culture or our own personal creation. Take any evil desire in me and kill it, replace it with grace, love, and excitement for you.

Second, as a mirror, reflect on this command and think deeply on God’s character and yours. In the best sense, He is a good and jealous God who desires your affection and love. He has moved and worked for you to be satisfied in Him through the gospel of Christ. Whether you are here as an unbeliever, or you are a faithful follower of who needs a fresh love for Him, use this command as mirror to see your lack, your failing, and your need for a good and big God.

Third, as a moral guide on your life, carefully evaluate the life you actually lead. We are not to pay lip service to our loyalty to the one true God, we are not to be Christian in name only, but in character, in faith, in our works, choices, thoughts, and words. Is the life you’re actually living a display of your following of this command of no other gods besides Him?

Let me bring this full circle: God & gods, who will have our heart?
He is after yours this morning. In the kind Providence of God, a Law is put before us. Who is it that you are trusting, loving, and running to? No other gods, but the Triune! As we heard from pastor Anders a couple weeks ago, all Scripture is breathed out and profitable, it teaches, corrects, trains, and is the means for you and I knowing and loving the Lord. Ask the Lord to use these words to knit your heart to His.

The first commandment does not begin with a demand; it begins with deliverance. I brought you out of the land of Egypt, follow me. The command to have no other gods is a call to gaze upon and love the true God that has moved toward you. In the same way dear Christian, He has sent His Son, to die on a cross and rise again, to bear you up on eagle’s wings, in grace. He has initiated and secured salvation for those who receive and trust in this gospel. And He invites you into a life of following His ways and knowing His blessing.

Lewis’ story:
In the Chronicles of Narnia, the ‘Voyage of the Dawn Treader’ offers a descriptive tale on finding Aslan’s country as an eclectic group sails as far east as one might dare. Seeking adventure, the rescue of lost lords, and answers to mysteries of the known world, many trials and joys meet the Dawn Treader and her sailors. I’d encourage you to read this novel that prompts the reader to think deeply about Another World accessible by Another Name. Yet, ‘The Dark Island’ may be the chapter that serves you well, so here is the story in part.

After an interesting encounter with some ‘Dufflepuds’ the crew sails on. Some time passes and a dark mass lay ahead, but it did not seem to be land and contrary to the movie, it was not a mist. It was a smooth and solid blackness that is difficult to describe, one in which you could not see much beyond the end of your own nose.

After a sober challenge from the brave Reepicheep, the blackness is not avoided. Rather, it’s adventure that noble and royal persons welcome. They embrace the dark and frightening, it is no interruption or accident in their journey.

No light pierced the darkness as they went further in, only a desperate cry from a wild looking man who begged for mercy somewhere inside. Finding him, pulling him aboard the Dawn Treader he pleads with them:

“Fly! Fly! …. row for your lives away from this accursed shore…
This is the island where Dreams come true…
dreams, do you understand - come to life, come real.
Not daydreams: dreams.”

An initial excitement quickly turns to despair, orders are quickly given to row as if lives depended on it, who could endure the weight of all the evil and terrifying things we’ve dreamed? The darkness began it’s secret and dangerous work, each person on board begins to hear evidences of those nasty dreams coming true. Sounds that would drive you wild with fear.

Complaint, groaning, and laughs laced with desperation grew among those on board while sweet Lucy sits above the fighting top and whispers,

“Aslan, Aslan, if ever you loved us at all, send us help now.”

Lewis narrates further:
"The darkness did not grow any less, but she began to feel a little - a very, very little - better. ‘After all, nothing has really happened to us yet,’ she thought."

Suddenly a small light was visible, and it came upon the whole of the ship. It was a bird that came with hope and a sweet song who whispered to dear Lucy (‘Courage, dear heart’ and the voice, she felt sure, was Aslan’s, and with the voice a delicious smell breathed in her face.’) and begun to lead them from circling around in the dark to move forward away from their dreadful plight.

The darkness would turn to gray and then to a sunlight world with warmth and blue again.

“And all at once everybody realized that there was nothing to be afraid of and never had been… And then first one, and then another, began laughing. ‘I reckon we’ve made pretty good fools of ourselves’… They all looked. But they saw only bright blue sea and bright blue sky. The Dark Island and the darkness had vanished forever…”

My story:
I recently read this book to my children (we reread the Narnia books continually, I encourage you to do the same), and I bawled my way through the chapter of ‘The Dark Island’. My children weren’t too taken aback, me crying during Narnia readings has become a Nagel family past time. Yet their attention was rapt because I offered some vague details of my recent sufferings and how these words were a framing of my own situation.

While I won’t spill the tea on some deeply personal matters and wrestling, while this framing doesn’t exhaustively cover all my suffering or yours, I’ll share how God has used this chapter to bring light to darkness.

It started just before Easter, a deep discouragement. A busy season, personal stuff, some messy counseling and church life situations, unexpected transition with staff, some congregants unknowingly causing pain in my heart, and a fresh uptick in a sickness I have related to my preaching ministry at my local church. I don’t know how else to describe feelings of inadequacy and a fierce streak of perfectionism, but I struggle to accept the Lord might not only use me but be pleased with my imperfect attempts to teach His Word.

The darkness begun its secret work; noises, voices, and questions arose:
- Should I quit ministry?
- Does anyone love, trust, or like me?
- What would it be like to be a lumberjack?

There were much darker questions that I will not share, but I bet you’ve asked them.

So many tears, for unknown reasons. I told everything to my wife. I confided in a few who weren’t quite sure what to say but offered truthful reminders. I approached a professor at a conference (poor guy). I googled my symptoms and questions. Turns out I’m at a prime age and season for a mid life crisis, is that what this is? I prayed, tried to read, listened to songs and took walks. Yet like a ship lost in a dark mass I worried that I was simply rowing in circles and I would never get out. I was a wild man fearful that all his dreams might come true.

“Aslan, Aslan, if ever you loved us at all, send us help now.”

My prayers may have been less eloquent, but rightly desperate and dependent. God, if you are real, if You care, if You are powerful and kind, in the name of Jesus, help me!

The darkness did not immediately go away, but another bird (a dove) did come, His name is the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit of God guided me to warmth and blue skies. I did not row my way out, that vain work only left me dizzy. Rather it was faithful, consistent, and small disciplines that the Spirit of God used.

Read, pray, walk, listen, repeat.
Cry, confess, walk with Lisa, sleep, repeat.
Work, exhaustion, pray, preach, collapse, repeat.

And now that I’m out, now that I’ve been rescued afresh, now that I’m laughing again (I’m not much of a laugher), do you know what I’ve realized? I’ve come to the same conclusion that those did on board of the Dawn Treader, namely this: there was nothing to really be afraid of at all.

None of my anxious and fearful dreams came true. That darkness was all in my head. And if they had come to fruition, if I quit, if I had no one on my team, if I was cut off from love and friendship and all the rest, wouldn’t I still have Him?

Certainly there will be times in which darkness is not merely a head full of voices but actual enemies and circumstances that harm us physically, spiritually, mentally, etc… But how often do I confuse potential and the actual?

To put a little more sting to it, if someone doesn’t like my preaching, makes wrong conclusions about my life and character, doesn’t trust me, maligns me online, or makes assumptions that are unfair, has real harm been done?

A friend recently loaned me Charles Spurgeon’s ‘Encouragement for the Depressed’. I was struck by the conclusion that said this:

“Serve God with all your might while the candle is burning, and then when it goes out for a season, you will have the less to regret. Be content to be nothing, for that is what you are. When your own emptiness is painfully forced upon your consciousness, chide yourself that you ever dreamed of being full, expect in the Lord… Continue, with double earnestness, to serve your Lord when no visible result is before you.”

Are dark islands outside the plan of God? Oh no. With the brave Reepicheep I remember that I am part of the noble and royal company of God’s family, being a brother to Christ, an adopted son to the Heavenly Father. Seasons of lack, wild voices, and despair… they are part of the adventure, the journey of being a faithful follower of Christ. When I cannot see beyond the mast, I continue and trust Him with the results.

It is to be enrolled into the school where we rightly remember we are not God, but He is. Fullness, joy, warmth, delight… they are not manufactured by my rowing, effort, and morality. It is Christ, by His Spirit, by His Word, that guides, comforts, recalibrates, and fills our hearts.

And when you don’t know what to do, when it is darkest, follow Lucy’s example:

“Aslan, Aslan, if ever you loved us at all, send us help now.”

It is a bitter and sweet thing to come to the end of Hebrews as a church family. Surely, we can say that this sermon from a first century pastor has given a vision of Christ for both the trials of those first recipients and for us today. The old incomplete fragments have been fulfilled in a fuller word spoken by the Son, Hebrews 1:2. As our Brother and High Priest, through the good news of His death and resurrection for sinners, applied by a Spirit-given faith, we cling to Jesus and are secure, forgiven, held and assured that He is our anchor in this life and the next.

We’ve covered 13 chapters of rich theology and clear pastoral and practical insight and instruction. Where would our pastor lead us, how would this conclude, what final words are offered? We come to Hebrews 13, verses 7-25 and our main idea from our text is simply this: God preserves His people through the Church.

Today, many might struggle with a statement like this… perhaps scarred by well-meaning people leveraging the priority and the authority of the Church for power, personal gain, social status or justification to treat poorly people made in God’s image, an idea like this can create a sour taste in our mouths and spirits. Others, perhaps influenced by much of the fierce individualism that flows downstream of philosophical beliefs of the 1960’s and 70’s, you might conclude all I need is Jesus, it’s just me and Him and I don’t need the Church.

There may be multiple reasons an emphasis on the Church might be off-putting to you. It certainly doesn’t have to be Lakewood, but God’s Word communicates a designed and necessary relationship for you to have with the universal Church at large, and a specific Body of Christ locally. We’ll see both in our passage. Joy, satisfaction, and faithfulness is found in Christ through the Church.

In reverence to God’s Word, allow me a short prayer before I read the Scriptures for us.
From a collection of books called the Apostolic Constitutions from the early Church fathers:
“We pray for this local church, that the Lord of the whole world would preserve and keep it unshaken, and free from the waves of this life, until the end of the world. Stoop down to us here to keep us following the hope of heaven, as we rightly divide your word of truth.” In Jesus’ name, amen.

Starting in Hebrews 13:7, God says this to us:

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.

10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. 18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

22 I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with all of you.

God will preserve you through the ministry of the Church and we first wrestle with this as we rightly understand our: Sacrifice of Praise. We’ll survey our middle section in verses 9-16. In fact, if you look down closely again, we get this point directly from verse 15, where we are instructed to ‘continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.’

In many ways these 8 verses are a summary of the entire book as a whole. A final argument to say that true worship of God is not to be done through the shadows in the ways of Moses, known as the Old Covenant. Rather, our worship, our praise, our right standing with God is found in Jesus, the mediator and provider of a New Covenant promised from long ago. The old ways were to lead us to Christ, to stop short, to offer sacrifices under the Law, to put other voices on par with Jesus is a grave mistake, one that has immediate and eternal consequences as we’ve read through the letter.

Notice how the pastor counsels his first readers and us with a command. Verse 9, do not be led away by diverse and strange teaching. I doubt many of you will be as offended and challenged as these Jewish Christians were, forced upon them is the call to understand God, the Scriptures, and their circumstances within a Christian worldview, not a Jewish one. They probably had never considered that an abandoning of Jesus, going back to Judaism, elevating Moses, worshipping angels, failing to see how the Law pointed them to the gospel… it was diverse, dazzling, and alien to God’s ways.

Yes, you’re reading and hearing that right, in light of who God is, what Jesus has secured and accomplished in his death and resurrection, to leave Christianity, to try to blend and synthesize it with Judaism, or to go back to the Levitical system as a whole, that is to be carried away, whether by the influence of others or yourself, carried away by diverse and strange teachings. It denies Jesus.

Certainly, it is wrong for them and us to give ourselves to any teaching outside of Christ broadly, but we know Judaism is the targeted warning because of the whole of the letter and the following verses. Our hearts are to be strengthened by the grace of the gospel, not by foods, end of verse 9. Likely referencing the Passover meal, but it is true of all the ceremonial meals of the Old Covenant, spiritual benefit and favor cannot be won and secured in them, there is no fulfilled benefit to them. The meals, the laws, the code was given to reveal God’s character, guardrail sin, and prescribe worship that pointed you forward to the Savior.

Our sacrifice and worship are not to be the diverse and strange teaching of staying, believing, and living in the Old ways as though the New way has not come. Verse 10, we have a better altar, one that those who serve the tent, who serve the temple, have no right to eat. We read in the Levitical system of bulls and goats being killed and blood being split on the altar. As we heard in Hebrews 9 and 10, those sacrifices at those altars could not forgive, they could not cleanse the conscience, they could not fully and perfectly remedy the problem of sin, our hard hearts, and our separation from God. Only faith and trust in God and His promises finally fulfilled in Christ could do that. To eat from the altar is to benefit from the sacrifice, and unless you are trusting in Jesus and following Him, you have no right to eat from the richness offered to us in His sacrifice.

In contrast to animals, limited access to the presence of God, and sending sin outside the camp, verse 11. Those old ways have been eclipsed and fulfilled by Jesus verse 12, who became sin, took on our sin, and as the final sacrificial Lamb, died outside the city, won salvation for His people with His own blood. What is our response to our Brother’s work to bring us in? Verse 13, we’re willing to go outside the camp, outside the click, outside the culture, outside the Jewish community… We are willing, with a fresh vision of Jesus, to walk through trial, suffer persecution, endure oppression, and be faithful followers of Christ.

Why would we be willing to do this? Verses 14-16 give us, not just a prescription, but all the courage we need. We faithfully keep Jesus at the center, we continue and abide with Him, because we have no lasting city and residence on this Earth as we know it. We seek, we long for, we plant our citizenship in a city to come, a renewed Heavens and Earth, a restored Garden, and the sweet shores of Aslan’s country.

A sacrifice of animals under Judaism? No. We continually offer up, as long as we have breath in this life, we offer a sacrifice of praise for Jesus, His work for us and in us. We offer praise for His care of us during our difficulties, where the fruit of our faith, the overflow of our hearts, bleeds into our lives where we, end of verse 15, acknowledge the name of Jesus.

How was your weekend, I acknowledge Jesus. How is the Lord at work in your singleness or marriage, I acknowledge Jesus. I win the sports game, start a new job, graduate from school, find love, lose love, battle and lose to cancer, battle and overcome cancer, rich or poor, depression or great joy… I put my stake, my joy, my security, my hope, my endurance and continuing, I put it all in Christ, He is my vision and delight, I acknowledge Him. Verse 16, I’ll keep doing good, I’ll keep sharing what I have and loving others and point them to Christ, these are the sacrifices that please God. May we do it!

Persevering is found in the Body, the Church universally, the People of God offering sacrifices of praise for the gospel. This joy in the Church is also prescribed by further commands given from the writer; namely to: Remember, Consider, and Obey, we’ll spend significant time here. The Church at large, universally is to continue in our worship of Jesus, but here we’re told to follow God’s ways as it relates to specific, unique, local churches. We know it is local churches because the imperative is to remember, consider, obey, and submit to our leaders.

This is not a call relating to leaders broadly, generally, or in principle, it’s a word for the listeners to carefully contemplate their relationship with the shepherds of their church, those who occupy the office of elder. Look down again at verse 7, remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. This makes sense in light of the entire letter, don’t leave and abandon Jesus and His ways, remember what your pastors have taught you, remember the gospel they’ve proclaimed.

He continues, consider and reflect on the outcome of their faith and imitate their faith. Whether it’s pastors who’ve gone on to be with the Lord or those who maintain faithfulness, they are to be ones who have lives that can be viewed and we say, ‘the outcome of their life, even in suffering, is a steadfast continuing, and I should imitate that’.

We are implored to imitate their assurance, conviction, and hope that is their faith in Jesus Christ. We don’t necessarily imitate their quirks, their preferences, or even their impassioned convictions on a range of topics that are gray areas or the Scriptures do not touch. As their faith reflects the Word of God they proclaim, we imitate that.

We do this because, verse 8, the object of our pastor’s faith is in Jesus. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Regardless of the season, era, circumstance or suffering, we are to look to our pastors and hear the Scriptures and see their modeling of faith that reminds us of the Unshaken King of the Unshaken Kingdom. If you’ve ever wondered what a pastor’s job truly is, this is it. To wake himself and his church up to the reality of the forever love and presence of God in their life. He is to be a beggar who tells other beggars where the Bread of Life is found. Life, nourishment, joy, hope, it is found in the Word of God that reveals to us the God of the Word.

Now if any of that sounds self-serving for me, buckle up as we look down at verses 17-19 that call for us to obey and submit. You might imagine some of the awkwardness speaking these words, better that than some who would weaponize them. However, these words are much more dangerous for the pastor than the congregant.

Think of our current setting, obedience and submission are trigger words for many, maybe for some in this room. As Paul says in Ephesians 5, we all submit to someone as unto the Lord. Wives submit to husbands, children submit to parents, bondservants submit to masters. Here in our passage, it is congregants who submit to leaders. Again, in context, those leaders who are speaking the Word of God, those who shepherd in the office of elder in your church, your leaders.

You’re not called to obey and submit to pastors universally, to the pastor down the road or one online, or even previous shepherds who no longer serve in the office of elder. Two questions that may arise in our mind:

1. What does it mean to obey and submit to a leader in the pastoral office?

2. Why should I?

First question first. I’ll tell you this, I know when I’m not going to obey and submit to my elders. When they, verse 7, are not instructing, guiding, and persuading according to the Word of God. When their outcome of life, when their faith is not something to be imitated. If they are offering their words, their take, and their morality outside of Christ, I’m not following.

To obey and submit does NOT mean the pastor’s word is absolute, it does NOT mean we cosign on folly or sin. It’s been summarized this way, obedience and submission is a divine calling to honor and affirm a pastor’s leadership, to help carry it out with your gifts, and an inclination of the will to say yes unless it is unwise and ungodly.

Let me put it in the positive, we are to joyfully obey and submit to God’s Words as the shepherds in our church speak it and live it before us. We should be very wary of an elder who prescribes extra biblical mandates, wary if commands and calls to submission are being given and they are not from the Scripture… on the flip side we should readily receive God’s Words as they are carefully, accurately, and faithfully given to us by our elders.

God in His kindness, has given all of us leaders in the office of elder, and the elders themselves are to humbly obey and submit to their elders, a great argument for the biblical model of having a plurality of men serving in the office of elder, whether it be lay men or men who serve as vocational pastors. God has given us these men as a means to care for our souls and point us to the joy of Christ as we are led to a vision of Christ.

The second question, why should I? Is answered explicitly in the text, look again at verse 17, ‘for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account.’ Why should you have an inclination to obey and submit, to bend your will and use your gifts to support your elders as they speak God’s Word? Because they will answer to God for how they serve, manage, and lead the church and thus, the spiritual condition of their people is something God will put on them, in part.

Certainly, we are our own people, each of us will answer to God for our faith or lack thereof, for our choices and volitional decisions in this life. But your pastor will stand before God and his shepherding will be judged. I’ll offer a few examples in my own life where I’ve had to have the Spirit’s wisdom in following this command.

Many years ago, I worked alongside a man who said Lisa and I were in sin for believing God would have us leave a church and serve elsewhere. He even preached a whole sermon to the church explaining how we were wrong. His words were not from God’s words, we did not obey and submit. Pastor Jarrod, has aimed to lead me to support Vikings QB JJ McCarthy, and I’ve said to him, ‘get behind me Satan.’ I have not obeyed and submitted.

Now in April, last month, pastor Dave preached a sermon on the forever and finished sacrifice of Jesus. He spoke the Word of God clearly and faithfully and urged us as a congregation to bring our sin to light and apply Christ’s work in an ongoing relationship with the Lord. Personally, I recently spent about 5-6 weeks under a dark cloud of fear, anxiety, and deep pain. It’s been a difficult season for me. So, two weeks ago, I heeded Dave’s teaching from that Sunday. As a pastor in the church who spoke the Word of God to me, who’s accountable for my soul, even though I didn’t feel like it I brought my fear, anxiety, pain and my sinful response to them to the elders, and to friends. Light has shone on the darkness, and the darkness could not remain. Praise God. I obeyed and submitted to my leaders.

God has given us spiritual leaders in the office of elder who are to shepherd and pastor our souls. So, while you may have many good ideas, wise counsel, and even good criticism that we need to hear, may you give me and our team grace if we don’t follow the preferences and comforts of every person in this church. My whole life is bound up in aiming to meet those as I can, but fundamentally when I and the elders are at our best, we are asking, “Lord, we know we will answer to you, what do you require of us, what serves your people most faithfully, with all the different contributing factors, show us by your Spirit and your Word what they need and what you are providing.”

Trust takes time, but if you find you cannot submit and obey to the leaders God has placed in your local church when they speak, counsel, and lead by the Word of God then there are two alternative options. First, we would encourage you to go find another church whose leadership you can joyfully submit to and go do so without gossiping or complaining and love them well. Second, I’ll speak of myself, if my character is unfit, my faith not worth remembering and considering, if we come to a place where my leadership is ineffective or I no longer speak God’s Words, if you’ve sought to help me grow and I cannot or will not, then you need to graciously take steps to love me and remove me as your pastor and bring in a man who will do it better.

If that sounds drastic, let me remind you that our ultimate loyalty is to God and His Word. All of us are replaceable, all of us should be willing to hold loosely whatever we need to so we can in good conscience say we are faithful followers of Christ who live by the Words and Ways of Jesus.

Looking down at the end of verse 17, these leaders, elders who pastor and are accountable for souls, no whining is allowed by them. To the Lakewood elders, whether lay or staff pastors, speak and lead with the Word of God, feel the heavy weight of souls and do it with joy, groaning doesn’t serve our people well. Now it’s as if these heavy and eternal things bring feelings of inadequacy and desperation, and they should. Verse 18, pray for us, pray for your leaders, for a clear conscience in their service and for them to act as godly men.

It’s often and rightly said that healthy leadership, whether it be in the workplace, in homes, schools, sport teams, and even churches, healthy leadership often brings a healthy culture. This is true, but it’s also true that a healthy posture and response to healthy leadership contributes to it as well.

And may we never forget, Christ is our Great Shepherd, our ultimate leader, and the Head of every local Body. I read this week, “Pastors come and go. Churches rise and fall. Leaders succeed and fail. But the great Shepherd of Hebrews remains the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Let me tie this together and land the plane. These Jewish believers, like us, found themselves in a season of real pain and suffering. Yes, the pastor gives them a bunch of rich theology, a clear vision of Christ, warnings to not abandon, insight into how the whole story of the Bible is connected, and some very practical commands grounded in love and grace. He finishes by pointing them back to their local pastors and says, as we’ve stated it already: God preserves His people through the Church.

Your local church, yes even imperfect leaders and congregants in it, they are part of the kind provision of God to keep your heart and mind centered on Christ. If you call Lakewood Church your home, your spiritual family, help us to be an outpost of the universal church in our community as we make a sacrifice of praise to Jesus. In real, tangible ways, press into our pastors, we are here for your joy in the faith. Above all, may our local body be a safe haven to be challenged and corrected by God’s Word, a place to be embraced by brothers and sisters who point to Jesus for comfort. Because no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, there is great grace for you in the gospel of Christ.

Through both the Old and New Testament, continuing through church history, a benediction is not some cute way to close a service. Rather, it’s a word given by a shepherd evoking a blessing for his people. I’ve read it explained this way: “You have worshiped. You’re going out for the rest of the week to work and labor. Go in peace. Go with the blessing and the assurance of God’s covenant promises upon you that He will never leave you nor forsake you, that you are Christ’s, and that you will be Christ’s forever. You may experience trials and difficulties this week, but you are covenant children underneath the umbrella of the covenant blessings. You are not under the covenant curses. Remind yourself that you’re under the sunlight of the gospel this coming week.”

Following that pattern, allow me to speak the blessing of our Hebrew passage over us:

Hebrews 13:20-21
20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

I believe you could make a case that the book we know as Hebrews is the most rich, deep, and Christocentric writing in the New Testament. It’s a masterpiece explaining not just who Jesus is, but how the whole of the Scriptures is connected, points to Him, and is fulfilled in Him. The Old Covenant, also known as the Mosaic Covenant, given to Israel at Mt. Sinai, it is obsolete, Hebrews 8:13. Not to be confused with promises in the Noahic or Abrahamic covenants, the ethical, moral, and ceremonial structures of the Levitical system have been eclipsed and fulfilled. It is the New Covenant in Jesus that in fact fulfills all the shadows and promises of old.

So, Jesus is better, we don’t put Him on par with angels, prophets, Moses, codes of conduct, or anything else in this life. We keep Christ at the center. Yet we’ve discovered through our pastor’s sermon over these past 12 chapters, this does not mean Christians have no law, code, or command to follow. Quite the contrary.

We’ll be in Hebrews 13, verses 1-6. A passage where we find a flurry of commands. Our main idea will simply be this: Keep following, Jesus is with you!

To frame our passage, to rightly understand the argument of the writer and how it connects to the book as a whole, I’ll share a personal story.

Many years ago, I was a snot nosed seminary student. I have a sober temperament, and if you mix that with a contrarian spirit, a genuine curiosity, a careful follower of arguments, a skepticism of theological tribes and pragmatism… you might guess that I was a student who asked a lot of questions in class, and you might guess that I did not always do that well.

One particular afternoon my professor stated that it is NOT necessary to preach the gospel in every sermon. Now in the most literal sense, I agree. Not every text and sermon will describe Jesus’ death and resurrection. Yet, every text and sermon should be informed by it and point to it. I said something to this effect and the professor doubles down and says, ‘If I tell my son to take out the trash and give him a command, I don’t need to tell him I love him every time.’ He was defending a position that there is a time to simply give commands, both in parenthood and in the Christian life.

I cautiously raise my hand, noticing his eye roll immediately. ‘Yes’ I state, ‘but what if your son has no arms and legs? What good are commands if your child or the Christian seeking to follow God’s Word has no power, no ability, no enablement to obey?’

Hebrews 13 is a series of commands given in the context of gospel realities and promises. This will save your parenting and your life. Yes, we declare commands and laws, but it is only the redeeming grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ that enables and gives arms and legs to our efforts. We are faithful followers of Christ who keep following, because Jesus is with us. Our text will aid us as we wrestle with this, and we’ll be given clear, kind, and Christlike imperatives that will guide our life of faith.

Starting in verse 1, God says this to us:

13 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

The writer of Hebrews provides us 6 laws and commands for us to obey if we truly are to be faithful followers. We’ll cover each of them.

First, we are told to: Continue. We pull this directly from verse 1, look again, ‘Let brotherly love continue.’ A theological treasure ends with a chapter full of practical mandates and the first one given presses Christians to look at each other, treat other, and love each other as brothers and sisters. Not unlike the sermon we heard last Sunday from one of our missionaries on Christian love and unity, the pastor of Hebrews urges us that love is to be the mark of Christ in us.

Now we’re not surprised by an order like this, it was Jesus himself who told us that the greatest commandments are to love God and to love our neighbor as our self. Yet it’s likely the first one that needed to be reinforced with these Jewish believers suffering in Rome. Persecution from a godless government, oppression from a Jewish subculture that no longer received them, as it likely affected not just their family relationships, but their jobs and their acceptance in the community at large. Feeling like sojourners and exiles, feeling the pains of loss, contemplating leaving Jesus and going back to Judaism, we can all imagine the difficulty of remaining and continuing in love.

We currently live in a culture that struggles grasp how love can be a command. While there should be and we should strive for feelings of affection, we should seek for love to be organic, natural, and not manufactured or fake. It is a volitional action and choice. Regardless of how I feel, even if I don’t think someone deserves it, I’m resolved to love to show genuine affection especially to brothers and sisters around me.

This broadly should push us to love as an underlying principle in our lives. Children, you love by being faithful in school, being patient with siblings, and honoring mom and dad. Adults, we love by still honoring mom dad, being faithful and diligent in our vocations, and leveraging our lives to disciple others. There is a plethora of ways to apply this call on our life, and I would encourage you to prayerfully consider how God may have you continue and remain in a life of love.

However, our pastor doesn’t leave it to his readers to figure it out on their own. He offers several commands, several ways that this overarching principle is to be fleshed out. So, look with me again at our passage and feel the weight of God using this writer to inform us what our love should specifically entail.

Command, Do not neglect. Verse 2 tells us that we are not to neglect hospitality to strangers, because some of them may be angels. The other day at one of the roundabouts in town, I showed hospitality as I deferred to an aggressive, angry driver. And in their face, hand gestures, and license plate I surmised they were a stranger to these parts and I thought, ‘there goes one of God’s angels now’.

This call from the writer is actually much more extreme and dangerous that we might first realize as we read it. Both in middle eastern 1^st century and historic Christian culture throughout the ages, hospitality often has narrowly been understood as having people in your home. And while it’s always a risk to have someone in your home, it was especially true for these first recipients. Opposition was on the rise and to open your house to a stranger could mean real danger. If you go back and read through the book of Acts, Christians were concerned with spies who may posture themselves as brothers and sisters but sought to bring them harm. Think about the cautiousness surrounding the Apostle Paul’s conversion.

So how are we to apply all this rich theology of Jesus being better, He’s our brother and High Priest, He’s the object of our conviction and assurance, He’s our final sacrifice for all time? We continue to show brother and sisterly love by opening our homes and welcoming strangers. Whether it be strangers in our community, at your work, in your neighborhood, or the strangers that are in your family and local church, we show affection in this tangible way.

And who knows? Maybe that stranger is an angel is disguise. Many believe this most certainly is an allusion to Abraham back in Genesis who showed hospitality to a couple of angels unbeknownst to him. God can do this; it is still possible.

But many through Christian history, in light of references to angels in Hebrews 1 and 2, even angels in festive celebration in Heaven in chapter 12, many understand the point to be this, ‘there may be more to the people we meet than meets the eye.’ It could be an angel you’re showing love and hospitality to, or perhaps they are something more wonderful?

The Scriptures tell us that every brother or sister, and every person you meet is an eternal soul made in the image of God. It is Christians who will spend eternity in holy attire, it is the angels who serve them and have great awe as they watch God work in humanity’s life. Many quote CS Lewis, I’ll do the same, “there are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal…” May our hospitality show great honor and value to image bearers.

Allow me a practical suggestion and a couple of diagnostic questions. Many of us can be a bit insecure about hospitality, whether it be the condition and size of our home, the mess that displays a normal life, or our lack of dazzling ability with food or an empty pantry. May I humbly suggest that if you have a working faucet, that a simple cup of water in Jesus’ name with a big heart, an open ear, and a willingness to pray for someone is all you need. If you don’t have a cup, I’ll buy you one. Don’t romanticize hospitality, just love people and do it, even today.

A couple questions:
- From my reading this week: ‘How many people could describe the inside of your home?’ If not many, perhaps this act of love needs to be something you pursue.
- Are you given to speaking to strangers and showing loving hospitality to them? Take a moment to ask yourself this question and then ask the Lord for eyes, courage, and enablement to obey this command.

We show love by not neglecting hospitality, next we also show love by obeying the command to: Remember. Sit with me for a moment now on verse 3, a call to remember those who are in prison. It’s qualified by urging sympathy, remember as though you were in prison with them, remember those who are mistreated, because you’re part of the family, the body, the people of God.

This again informs us of much of the context of the letter and these believers in Rome. People are literally being jailed for their faith in Christ. The wave of public persecution was real, brothers and sisters are hurting, and along with hospitality we admit that it’s very difficult to love others when we ourselves are suffering. In contrast, it’s rather easy to forget to love other people when we are wrapped up with our own lives, thinking only of our preferences, comfort, and agony.

Here’s the hangup as well, to obey this command to remember the prisoners, if acted upon, brought additional threat on their life. Prisoners were dependent upon family and friends to provide for them, bringing clothes, food, blankets, and more. A Christian in prison had physical needs and spiritual needs. ‘Keep going, don’t forsake the Lord, He will be with you even now…” But to do that, to care for the prisoner would be an automatic connection with the Christian in chains. You, yourself, you might end up in there if you showed up signaling that Christ was your King too.

The command to remember is a directive to have sympathy and empathy for others. We understand the context and we too can commit to love and remember those in prison and I would encourage you to pray over prison ministry and how the Lord may be calling you to answer that call in our community. But there is more than one kind of prison isn’t there? How can you remember others? Consider this:

Remember the difficulty of being a young adult. Remember the fear of being a newly married couple and navigating children and the pressure and questions of finances, budgets, and it feeling impossible. Remember what it was like to contemplate, enjoy, and wrestle with singleness. Remember what it is like to feel conquered by personal sin. Remember when you were spiritually dead and immature. Remember when you too were given to different forms of idolatry. Remember when you were spiritually deceived and far from the ways of God. Remember when you were lonely, angry, annoying, excited, and full of blind spots. Some of us don’t have to do much work to remember, we live in all this right now.

The command to love is a command to have Christlike sympathy and tenderness to other strugglers. If you’ve been given to complaining, judging, ridiculing, harboring anger and a lack of love toward others… repent of your sin and obey this call on your life. There are brothers and sisters struggling around you, imprisoned literally or figuratively, point them to Christ.

We love by not neglecting hospitality, remembering those in prison, next by committing to: Honor. Look down again at verse 4, Christian love is to hold marriage in honor broadly and to be sexually pure narrowly because God holds us accountable for our choices.

This might strike you strange in the midst of our chapter and the letter as a whole. If these Jewish believers are tempted to leave Jesus for Judaism, if they need a vision of how Christ is better, if all the rich theology of the book is to inform our brotherly and sisterly love, why is marriage and sexual ethics being brought before us? These are good questions for us to ask as we learn to read our Bibles better.

Likely the reason is very simple, when is it that Christians are most prone to succumb to the temptations of the culture around them? When they suffer, when they are dissatisfied. I’ll save you from the gruesome details, but many wrongly conclude that the sexual revolution of our culture is a culmination of depravity like no other in human history. The trends of human history are so cyclical, if you were to go back and read of the sexual exploits of 1^st century Rome, it would make our American context look wholesome in comparison.

Rome was a hot bed of sexual exploitation, it was the norm to not merely treat marriage as some accessory, but to celebrate sex outside of the confines of husband and wife. Keeping the marriage bed pure was a joke. God judging us for how we use our bodies was simply prude. And when suffering Christians are surrounded by invitations for pleasure, when all they want is to feel something other than frustration, pain, and disappointment, they take the low hanging forbidden fruit to try to satisfy their appetites and cravings.

The command for holiness, to hold marriage in high honor, it has always been counter cultural. While the writer explicitly mentions sex, and this is something we should continue talk about, pray about, and seek to help us all be faithful in, whether single or married… the broader principle of honor has further implications. If you look again at verse 4, it says marriage is to be held in honor among ALL.

In a culture, theirs and ours, where there is a low view of marriage, it’s right that we would stop for a moment and ask how marriage, one that Paul says is THE human institution that points to the gospel in a mysterious way, how can we all show honor to it?

- Husbands and wives show honor by speaking of their spouses in uplifting ways, we reject the lazy language of our culture that calls wives ‘the ball and chain’ or treat husbands as stupid men.

- We honor marriage by modeling to our children and any who would watch that it is a sacred and special union like no other.

- Singles honor marriage by desiring it and grieving it as they never attain it and rejoice in the life God has given them.

- Divorcees, widows, and widowers honor marriage by regretting a lack of health in their union or how they miss their partner.

- We honor marriage by fighting for it afresh in every season, rediscovering how to love each other when things change.

- We honor marriage by telling young ones to pursue it… when they find a suitable partner, when God makes it clear it is time, and then to do so as faithfully as possible.

- We honor marriage by telling men and women that God will use it to shape you and build a life that will give you great joy as you follow Christ

- We honor marriage by celebrating other marriages and helping their marriages, even when ours is a mess or we’re never granted it ourselves

Many used to be, and some still are, concerned with generations past that got married too young. Now we continually live in a culture that rejects marriage and commitment. We have lonely men, women who wish they were married, both men and women championing careers at the cost of marriage only to regret it later. Women who miss the healthy and vibrant years of childbearing, couples who rather live together with an easy out, and much more. Hold marriage in high honor, certainly that means husbands and wives fight for healthy, communitive, and committed sex with one another. It also means the body of Christ champions it when our culture is so quick not to. It’s an act of love, may we do it.

Of course, as is often the case, sex is closely followed by money. Look now at verse 5 and the command to: Keep. We are to keep our life and our hearts free from the love of money. Sex and money, the Scriptures pull no punches and get right into the business and real life of faithful followers of Christ. God is after your heart and so whether it be Moses or David, Jesus, Paul, or our pastor here, sex and money are spoken on and addressed because our hearts are so easily swayed by them.

Why might the pastor tell struggling Christians to be free from the love of money? Very likely, it’s because they don’t have any. In a climate where being a Christian cost you your job, your prospects, and your connection with the community, many Christians were very poor. Even if that were not the case, these are real people with normal daily needs. Food, shelter, clothing. They too had dreams for their children, wanted to be generous to others, and would love to have a comfort or too from time to time. And they had the same questions that you and I have, ‘Lord, how am I going to afford this?’

In the market they would go to their version of the gas station or Walmart and shake their head and determine life is just as expensive no matter the administration.

The pastor says brotherly love must continue, and that means submitting to a love for God rather than money. Whether it be the difficulty of poverty or great wealth, our hearts can easily be pulled toward the love of what feels more tangible in the moment. A love for what we can purchase and secure, a love for self-sufficiency, security, and comfort. Do you love money? Do you hold onto it tightly? Do you sacrifice faithfulness to get it? Do you trust God to give you what you need even if it’s not what you want?

I think you get the point, so move with me to our last command from love, the call to: Be content. Verse 5 finishes and verse 6 gives us a promise in this way, ‘be content with what you have because he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’. With confidence we say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me?’ Verse 6 is a mash up and partial quote of Psalm 118 and Psalm 27.

True Christian love, says the pastor, is to look at our circumstances, our trials, our needs, our desires and say, I’m good, I have what I need. I have Christ. Now this is right off the heels of sex and money. Regardless of what your sex life is or isn’t, no matter how much or how little you have in the bank account, receive what you have as God’s plan for your life. In love, obey the Scripture’s call for you to see the Lord as your ultimate fulfillment.

Persecution, oppression, fractured relationships, significant financial and physical needs, they may come, but Jesus is with me. Others may leave, others may judge, others may hurt, others may not help, others may even attack, but I have one like no other. I have a friend, a brother, my Savior and High Priest. The commands of God, whether it be under the Old Mosaic covenant or the New covenant with Jesus, all of God’s commands are grounded in grace, in a relationship with Him.

When we trust in Jesus and his gospel, we are forgiven and our hearts are made big. We are brought into the family of God and his requirements of His people, the laws we read here, they come with the enabling grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. What he calls you to, He will enable in you. Be content with the life God has given you! How? He is with you, He is your helper. Whatever this world throws at you, you have a God who looks on you with affection and by His Spirit will produce good fruit in you.

Jesus is better, so hear and obey this call.
Continue in Christian love.
Do not neglect to be hospitable.
Remember those in prison.
Hold marriage in high honor.
Keep free from the love of money.
Be content.

Or as we put it at the beginning: Keep following, Jesus is with you!

May our love expressed in following Jesus and His ways be evident the world around us, and may it bring us great joy in the life He’s given us. Pray with me…

When it comes to decisions in life, especially important ones, many of us will compare and contrast. In a literary sense, this is a rhetorical style, in a practical sense it is an analytical tool that helps us navigate the road before us. For example, in Pride and Prejudice a story unfolds as Mr. Darcey and Elizabeth are compared and contrasted, spoiler while it’s evident in every character, it’s Elizabeth who discovers Pride and Prejudice in herself. In the purchase of a first home, a young couple may make a list between two houses, and the pros and cons are compared and contrasted to make the best choice for their future.

You could make the observation that this is the exact style and argument of the writer of Hebrews, both in the book as a whole and especially in our passage today in Hebrews 12. We’re near the end of a 13-chapter letter that likely was a sermon penned by our pastor. A word of exhortation that was brought before His readers, then and now, a comparison and contrast between the Old Covenant mediated through Moses and the New Covenant fulfilled through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again and again, we’ve been told, and I hope convinced, that Jesus is better, He is the vision we need in the midst of trials. He is to be the object of our faith and our beholding; we look to Him. A high and holy calling, one of faith and trust, one of joy and perseverance, one that is difficult in a broken world. Which brings us to a strenuous challenge and the main idea of our text which will simply be this: You are to be a stranger and exile on the earth.

This is a direct quotation of Hebrews 11:13. Our passage doesn’t come to us in a vacuum. The pastor is urging his readers to follow the examples of faith in eras past that longed for a better and heavenly country. He’s urging them to rejoice in the city that has been prepared for us. As we discussed last week, our journey of faith is a running looking to Jesus, we rightly understand discipline as God’s plan as He shapes our hearts, and we resolve to keep going until we are brought to our forever home with Him.

To further make his case, set before us is a comparison and contrast. Those first century believers and us are in the same predicament, we are forced to the same choice, will we cling to, follow, trust, and love the temporary or the eternal? Framed to our context, we are led to consider two mountains, Mt. Sinai, representing the Old Covenant, and Mount Zion, representing the New Covenant. Which covenant, which promise, which Hill will we put our trust in?

The writer of Hebrews would have you turn to Christ. So, in reverence to the Word of God, a short prayer before we read our passage. “Father, what we do not know, teach us; What we have not; give us, what we are not, kindly make us. For Jesus’ sake and in His name, amen.”

Starting in Hebrews 12:18, God says this to us:

18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

This is the reading of God’s Word. In His shaping of our hearts, in our journey as strangers and exiles we first consider: The Beauty and Dread of Sinai, we’ll look carefully at verses 18-21.

While some New Testament books are more geared toward a Gentile Christian audience, it’s verses like these that remind us ‘Hebrews’ is written to a largely Jewish context. They are faithful followers of Christ who are contemplating the abandonment of Jesus in the face of trial, circumstance, and persecution. Our passage starts with a description that may strike us initially as a bit confusing, but they would have known exactly what was being referenced.

The central event around the Jewish faith is known as the Exodus. If you’ve never read the account or it has been a while, the ancient book, so titled, records the historical narrative of God redeeming and buying his people out of slavery under the heavy hand of Egypt. Being led through the Red Sea, God’s people find themselves encamped before a mountain called Sinai.

Depicted by an old oil painting, the Scriptures record a frightening scene. In Exodus 19 and 20, fire, darkness, gloom, and a storm are described. God tells Moses that if anyone touches the mountain, they will die. Access to God’s holy mountain is limited. Moses himself in our text, verse 21, he trembled with fear.

The mere sight of the mountain produced a fear. And not merely the sight of it, but what the mountain demanded. It was the geographical locale in which God graciously gave His people the Law of God, a Law according to Galatians 3, that aimed to drive us to our need of a Savior. A law, a code of conduct, that would bring all weary pilgrims to see their sin, their frailty, their need, their inability, and cling to the promises of a future Messiah named Jesus.

In John Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’, the old allegory of the faithful life, it is a man named Christian who seeks help, rescue, and aid by trying to traverse this impossible climb. Mt. Sinai hung over him and hangs over us, we see flashes of fire, the character of God, our burdens feel heavier and we sweat and quake for fear. We say, ‘this is impossible, I can never be near to God, I can never climb this mountain’.

Or as the Song writer, Sarah Sparks puts it:
“When all the broken come to bathe
at Sinai’s fount,
they leave ashamed.
Your righteousness a holy flame,
what could we bring,
what could we say”

Looking back on verses 18-21 in Hebrews 12, the pastor is reminding these Christians that they no longer belong to this covenant. They have come to a different relationship to God than those who first stood before that mountain.

As it relates to the beauty the dread of Sinai, many Christians fall on one of two extremes, and I would urge you to not fall into these yourself. The first is to read a passage like this and decide the Old Testament and God’s Old ways under the Mosaic Covenant are no longer important. These would be Christians who misunderstand the importance of God’s redemptive history and the role of the Law in our current lives.

The second extreme is probably more common with these Jewish believers, and that is elevating the Old Covenant to be on par with the New. We affirm God’s Words and Ways connect with Sinai, but Moses and Jesus are not equals. Christians do not follow Judaism, we are not under the Old Covenant. What the writer calls us to is the careful tension of beauty and dread. Understanding this first mountain as God’s gracious provision in that season, but a better mountain, a fulfilled mountain has been provided.

This leads us into our second consideration as strangers and exiles on the earth, in contrast to the first mountain we hold fast to: The Unshaken Kingdom in v. 22-29, a kingdom that is described as Mount Zion. Notice the connection of verse 18 and 22, look back at the beginning… ‘you have not come’ to Mt. Sinai, you do not belong to that covenant, but rather, verse 22, ‘you have come to Mount Zion’. Hear the present tense language, this isn’t merely a future destination, you have come to, in an already but not yet fully kind of way, you’ve arrived at a new mountain.

When you compare this mountain with the previous, instead of fear, lightening, thunder, and fire that produces dread and a separation from God. Wonderfully described is a heavenly city that we will reside where, verse 22, the angels are festively gathering, verse 23, the assembly of God’s people answer ‘here’ when the enrollment is taken. They are, verse 23 with God, they are in the presence of the judge who accepts them because they’ve been declared righteous and made perfect in Christ.

And don’t fail to notice verse 24, our gathering in this heavenly city will be centered around Jesus, the mediator, the advocate, the go-between, the peacemaker, the interceder, and securer of a new covenant, a new promise relationship where we can be with the Lord. How could this be? How is it that we can be granted this access to boldly approach the mountain, and touch it, and reside on it with God’s favor?

The end of verse 24 seals the deal, and we should all commit this verse to memory. ‘to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel’. Wow! If no screams of delight and feelings of overwhelmed emotion and joy come over you, let me unpack that further.

In Genesis 4, there were two brothers Cain and Abel. In a fit of rage and anger, Cain killed his brother because he was jealous of him as Abel’s worship of God was commended and Cain’s was not. When God approached the murdering brother, he says, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.”

Brothers and sisters, that blood cried out for avenging justice. The blood of Abel spoke a word of guilt upon Cain who was cursed for his sin. Jesus blood however, it speaks a better word. As we’ve been covering for several chapters now, Jesus was the forever sacrifice for our sins, his blood secures something better than justice due to murders and sinners in heart like you and me.

Let me remind of what we call the good news, the gospel of Jesus, found his death and resurrection:

Hebrews 10:11-12,19
“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down... Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus...”

Abel’s blood was a cry for justice to come down on sinners; Jesus’ blood speaks a word of mercy and forgiveness to sinners. Abel’s blood screams to our conscience, you are guilty. Jesus’ blood soothes the conscience and lovingly declares, you are redeemed.

The contrast is significant; the comparison will not hold up. Between the Old mountain and the New mountain, we would be fools to try to climb Sinai and abandon the sweet comfort of Zion. Zion is not merely a city upon a mountain, but a kingdom that’s unshaken. Look down now to verses 26 and 27. We’re being encouraged and commanded to not refuse Jesus words to us, in the Scriptures, and from this pastor. And he points to somewhat obscure passage and quotes Haggai chapter 2 verse 6.

Haggai had the privilege to speak as one of God’s prophets and encouraged leaders and God’s people on the whole to rebuild the temple and look forward to a day in which God would shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and dry land and bring an end time glory and fulfillment, not just to the Temple, but the entire world. Verse 27 informs us that the phrase, ‘Yet once more’ points to a future reckoning that we still await.

Here is how one commentator explains it:
“We are reading a prophetic history lesson, a reminder that one day this present created realm will be shaken by God, leaving only those eternal things that are of him.”

Brothers and sisters do you understand the implications of these verses? I think we struggle as did these first recipients of the letter. It’s understood through Christian history that this pastor is writing his sermon to a group of Christians located in Rome. In my reading this week it was posed, if you had asked them, ‘what will last longer, the Roman Empire or Christianity?’ what would of their response have been? Likely they struggled to ever envision the mighty Rome falling. Likely they treated their earthly citizenship as the unshakeable kingdom. Likely the ordering of their loves was misplaced.

‘The world is passing away along with its desires.’ 1 John 2
‘The present form of this world is passing away.’ 1 Cor. 7

The underlying wrestle for them and for us is our tight hold of this world. Yes, we are to be faithful to God’s ways, faithful to our families, faithful in our community, faithful in the big and small. And in the midst of circumstances, these believers are separated from their families, oppressed by the Roman government and religious Jews who no longer accept them, the prescription, the word of encouragement and exhortation is for them and us to remember what cannot be taken or shaken, the Kingdom of God.

In contrast to the first mountain, this mountain is the final and fulfilled plan of God. We have come to, in Christ we’ve been given citizenship to a city, Mount Zion is ours and we will taste it fully and finally when the Lord returns. God has given you an assignment, a placement, a life, and a specific context and locale for you to live your life of faith. But Hebrews 11:16 is to be true of us, “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

The beauty and dread of Sinai, the unshaken kingdom, lastly we contemplate: Our Response to the Holy God looking specifically at verse 25 and 28.

You are to be a stranger and exile on the earth. And in a very pastoral fashion, the writer gives us both a negative and positive exhortation. A warning in verse 25, ‘do not refuse him who is speaking’. This is a repeated theme throughout the letter, we are warned of the dangers of apostasy. If we turn away from faithfully following Jesus’ ways and words, if we cast him aside for the temporary, if we elevate other voices to be on par with Him, if we give into our feelings and experiences that pull our hearts from the gospel… there is no escape from judgment, consequence, and further suffering.

Moses voiced warnings as well, a refusal of listening to God’s words through him brought danger. How much more eternally impacting, how much less chance of escape if we reject the royal Son, the King, our brother and High Priest?

It was King Solomon in Proverbs 16 who declared, ‘Pride goes before destruction, and a proud spirit before a fall.”

No one here is immune from this danger. We receive this warning as God’s providential wake up call to us in our Christian lives. Our refusal of Jesus, a lack of hearing, listening, and following, it starts small. A dismissal in the minute, an elevation of self or idolatry for a moment. And when you stack moments, and hours, and days, then weeks, months and even years, you wake up one day shocked to find yourself where you never thought you’d be. Cold, dry, weary, unbelieving.

A word spoken in the negative is wisely followed up by one in the positive, look down at verse 28 now. We do not refuse to listen to Jesus AND we are commanded to be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. How do we respond in faith to the speaking of Jesus? How do we respond to our citizenship in Heaven, a freedom to not only touch but climb Mount Zion and be close to God? We respond with gratefulness that we belong to a city, a far country, and a mount that cannot be shaken.

Some of you are shaken and worried because of current political and cultural events.
Some of you are shaken because of painful physical and financial tragedy.
Some of you are shaken over fractured relationships, maybe Mother’s day isn’t very sweet for you.
You’re shook because of your personal sin, unmet expectations, and comfortable preferences have been taken. So easily rattled by trials, suffering, and circumstances the pastor commands faithful followers of Christ to stop and consider the great contrast of what can be shaken.

Isaiah 40:8
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever.”

One writer puts our task before us like this:
“a Christian’s priorities are opposite from those of the world. It is not that worldly things are of no importance to us. Christians may well be involved in the erection of great buildings and in worldly efforts of one sort or another. But far from putting spiritual things second, it is our allegiance to Christ that we place first. When worldly commitments and agendas… get in the way of our obedience to Christ, then we must be prepared to let the world go, remembering which kingdom will pass and which will last.”

I have never met anyone too heavenly minded. But I’ve met many, and I see myself in the mirror every day, who have forgotten to whom they belong and where their eternal loyalty, home, and joy rests. When you see yourself and this world crumbling, we don’t complain. Rather, we offer faithful solutions, we try to meet real needs, and we are grateful for the better mountain, the better covenant, and the better Moses, the Lord Jesus.

What is our response, we do not refuse Jesus’ voice by listening to our own or others. And we do express gratitude, not just in prayer, but in our posture of life. What is this?

End of verse 28, this is acceptable worship to God. This is a choice to be reverent and full of awe as we live for and look upon the Lord. He is a consuming fire in verse 29, like Moses we take our shoes off because we are on holy ground. What pleases our Holy God is our faith that we’ve been discussing the past few weeks. Our assurance, trust, and conviction that God is real, the Words and Ways of Jesus are to be listened to, and we are full of gratitude and joy.

If you seek to climb the mountains of secular materialism, Islam, Judaism, vague spirituality, or valiant human achievement, you will be left wanting. There is no comparison, the contrast is so severe, our delight is brought to us upon the better mountain. We’ve come to it, we’ve already savored the first fruits of its riches, prepared for us is a Heavenly city, a festive gathering with the angels, where the blood of Jesus cries out, ‘forgiven, child of God, mine, grace.’

No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, there is grace for you in the Gospel of Christ.

Or as we’ve put it already: You are to be a stranger and exile on the Earth.

Mount Sinai leaves us undone, but here is how that song I referenced earlier finishes:

We were undone…
But you gave relief, you gave your Son
Now we can rest in Jesus’ name
Forever rest in light of Grace
You have put joy in my heart
I have found rest in comforting arms
In my distress I know I’m yours
You hear my voice and set me apart
I rest in the love of my God

Are you here considering Christianity? Have you veered from a prior experience and are on a comeback? Is your life of faith difficult and tiring? Perseverance and joy are found in Christ, look to Him, set your eyes on Him, get a vision of Him in Hebrews 12. May it empower and enable our journey of faith to stay centered on Jesus. The One seated in Zion is not ashamed to call you his own.

Last Sunday we collectively considered true, biblical, saving faith and the fruits from it. In a pastoral letter to struggling Christians in the first century, the writer of Hebrews urges a continuing in our journey as faithful followers of Christ. As we saw, faith does not produce cookie cutter Christians. Rather each of us will have assigned lives with varying circumstances, trials, and joys. If you weren’t here, I’ll state again by way of encouragement, your faith placed in Christ, pleases God! It is not the size of your faith, not the vigor and vibrancy of your faith, not the perfection of your faith, rather it is the object of your faith that keeps you. Jesus will keep you if you trust in Him and His death and resurrection.

Now that’s all fine and true, but when is that faith rocked, challenged, and we’re left thinking about abandoning it all? That often happens when we hurt, when we struggle, when the waves lap over our heads and we feel as though we are drowning. Suffering often is the sharp instrument that cuts and we begin contemplating whether faith, trust, and a following of the Lord is worth it.

Which brings us to our main idea, which is simply this: This is God’s good plan, keep going! Many of us have a very poor theology as it relates to suffering. Christian doctrines and the life God calls us to, that’s well and good, expect when things aren’t going the way I thought they would, then I’m not so sure. The Jewish believers receiving this letter were wrestling with the exact same problem.

They are tempted to abandon Jesus and go back to the Old Covenant. Like us, they were shifting in their theology, what they believed and what they practiced, not out of conviction of what they found in the Scriptures, but they were swayed by their experiences and feelings. Their suffering took the driver’s seat and was steering them back to the old ways of sacrifices, priests, laws, and heroes like Moses and the prophets because the hurt they were experiencing felt like a mistake or interruption to their life.

Yet it’s no mistake or accident, their suffering is part of God’s good plan for their life, it is for yours as well. If you’ve ever struggled like I have, to connect the purposes of God with hurt, if you’d had questions about the love and goodness of God in trial, if you’ve been tempted to abandon Jesus and His ways when the dark and gloomy clouds of life leave you perpetually numb, dissatisfied, and wounded… Then Hebrews 12 is for you.

In reverence to the Word of God, a short prayer before we read our passage. Father, strip us of pride and self-sufficiency. Show us who you are, show us who we are, show us the riches of Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Hebrews 12 starts this way:

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

This is the reading of God’s Word.

How do we continue and keep going in the midst of God’s good plan for us? The pastor of Hebrews provides us 3 helpful prescriptions.

First, dear Christian: Run looking to Jesus, we’ll chew on verses 1-3 on this point. Building on the argument from Hebrews 11, in light of God’s commendation and witness of Old Testament saints that faithfully followed the Lord, in light of their testimony and witness to the faithfulness of God, we have a great cloud, we have an arena full of, we have a multitude of examples that point to a life of faith being worth it because God is worth it.

So, middle of verse 1, the pastor urges his readers to also lay aside. This is a participle functioning as a sneaky imperative and command. No mere suggestion, he’s saying, therefore in view of faith, in view of God’s commendation, approval, and favor on the lives of faith we’ve read, let us also lay aside every weight and sin and run with endurance our own race set before us.

The command to lay aside weights and sins seems to carry two different categories for the Christian to consider, perhaps best framed in a question. Here it is; as I run, as I keep going, in my journey following Jesus, what are the weights and sins in my life that are hindering me from joyfully following the examples of saints through God’s redemptive history?

Many commentators use sporty athletic inferences to draw on. Citing Roman culture and how sporting events would require athletes to lay aside weighty outer garments so they could run and compete without limitation. The word ‘and’, every weight AND sin does seem to imply that there are things that weigh us down that are not sin, but still hindrances to the race of lifelong faith.

Perhaps your impulse to gravitate toward screens, significant time given toward entertainment, politics, and sports, it could be a hobby or passion or other good things that rob you from time on great things. These weights in themselves may not be sinful, but they likely are slowing you down from spiritual growth, vibrancy with the Lord, they may be acting as a 20 pound vest you’ve been wearing, and if you would lay them aside, there would be a lightness and joy to your running for Christ.

And, what clings so closely? Our sin. Weights are one thing; it takes wisdom to discern releasing good things for the best things. But sin? Yes, you may be tempted to point the finger outward and blame whoever you think the bad guys are in our world. But in you resides evil. If you would run, you must lay aside the sin the acts like a ball and chain on your ankle. You could run so much better if you would cut off the sins of comfort and apathy, lust and gossip, anger and an elevation of yourself.

Stop for a moment, ask the Lord to show you your weights and sins, and pray He would enable you to lay them aside. Take stock of your time and loyalty and ask, ‘is this a help or a hindrance to my running a life of faith?’

Notice, end of verse 1, we lay them aside so we can run with endurance. It’s a youthful thing to seek to run with speed for an entire race. We want so desperately for things to come quickly, but God’s ways are for us to run with endurance, longevity, and perseverance. How can we continue in such a long, lifetime marathon? Verse 2, we look to Jesus. We look to the One who is the ultimate example of faith, the one who fulfilled faith and trust, the originator of our faith.

It was an act of faith for Jesus to trust His Father, to also lay aside weights and run, to endure the cross, despise the shame, to suffer as He did. But we look to Jesus, notice what it says, ‘who for the joy that was set before him’, he endured these things. There’s some debate on this; the language is more nuanced than our English Bibles let on. It could be that instead of the joy Jesus possessed in Heaven, he set that aside to endure the cross. Or, as it more naturally reads in our copies, because of His joy in His mission, Jesus suffered the cross.

I think the latter fits better in light of the following words, look at verse 3. Consider, think, dwell on Jesus who endured terrible things at the hands of sinful Jewish mobs and a corrupt Roman government, so that, for the purpose that you would not grow weary or fainthearted in your journey of faith. Christ bore the hardship of human suffering so you would be enabled to continue in your life of following the Lord.

His death and resurrection achieved and accomplished forgiveness and salvation for those who trust in Him, yes and amen! And the redemptive grace of the gospel of Christ, bought through Jesus’ willingness to joyfully obey and secure you, it is the means in which you will be sustained. You become what you behold, and if you would look to Jesus, consider His suffering, verse 3 says you will not grow weary, you will not faint, you yourself will endure. Jesus willingly suffered so as you look to Him, the Spirit of God will change you and uphold you.

Keep going, look to Jesus.

Next, we are to: Rightly understand discipline in verses 4-11. Verses 4 and 5 can potentially come off as a little insensitive from the pastor if we read it wrongly. These first century Christians are being persecuted, oppressed, they are wrestling with doubts and fear, they’re contemplating leaving Jesus… and he says to them, ‘I know it’s hard, but no pain, no gain, right?’ They had not fought against sin and unbelief where they were sweating blood like Jesus, who fulfilled the limits of human ability. Verse 5, another question, have you forgotten what the Scripture says? The writer then quotes Proverbs 3, I’ll read it again.

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

Certainly, each of us swing between the extremes of not regarding, not caring, not thinking, not appreciating the Lord’s discipline and being or feeling crushed by it. To fully understand what’s being communicated, we need to make a distinction between the word discipline in verse 5 and the word chastise in verse 6. I want to especially focus on the idea of discipline. This exact word is only used 6 times in the New Testament, 4 times in our passage and twice by Paul. Here is how the apostle uses the word.

Speaking in the context of parenting, Paul says, ‘bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.’ Eph. 6:4

Citing the sufficiency and authority of Scripture he says, ‘All Scripture is God breathed, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for discipline, for training.’ 2 Tim. 3:16

While our culture often understands discipline with a negative connotation, biblically this is not always the case. Discipline is not punishment; there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. If you think of spiritual disciplines, they are training tools that aid our spiritual growth. If you think of disciplines we teach our children in the tying of their shoes or treating other people as made in the image of God, we are training them to be functional, responsible, and kindhearted people as they launch into the world.

Now back to our Hebrews passage, God brings, allows, purposes for us to be trained, but can there be a punitive form of discipline? Yes, verse 6, sometimes our discipline involves chastisement, this is the same word used in the gospels to describe the flogging of Jesus when he was tortured before his death. The first recipients of the letter are told to understand their suffering in the context of God’s training of them and a corrective act as a parent might spank a child to shape their thinking and behavior.

While there have been abuses, while every parent is imperfect in using discipline and chastisement either being too little or too much, this passage informs us that God’s discipline, training, and even scourging of His children is not an accident, not an act of anger, not a form of abuse, but an affirmation of our belonging to God and His continued pursuit of our hearts.

Verse 7, any man, woman, or child who experiences discipline, they are counted as children, as inheritors, as sons of God. Because of God’s hand on you, his shaping of your affections, his correction by the Spirit, his allowance and ordaining of circumstances, they are, look down at verse 10, they are for our good, that we may share and be shaped into the image of Christ, into a greater holiness. Is it pleasant? Verse 11, no it’s painful. Whether it’s the training of our hearts or God’s refining corrective fires, we all bear the marks of being changed progressively, consistently, and lovingly by the Lord.

But what does it produce? End of verse 11, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness, we become trained by discipline, we are sustained by it and enabled by it to be faithful followers of Christ.

Brother and sister, Hebrews 12 is God’s call on your life to rightly understand discipline. Your circumstances are not outside the providence and care of God. Your suffering, your trials, the hurt caused by others, the secret quiet suffering of your own heart, it is not wasted, it is not purposeless. Whether it be addiction or cancer, tragic death or complication in life, bankruptcy or the difficulty of great wealth. Your kids or lack thereof, your dream job or the constant search for purpose and identity, your youthful beauty or the elegance of old age and wisdom. The highs and the lows, the sweet and the bitter.

God works all things for good for those who love Him. Every good and hard situation is God’s sovereign, kind, and fatherly gift being used to shape you, train you, discipline you, correct you, and enliven you, so you would yield the fruit of Christ in your life. Pray and ask God to produce in you the same heart posture of our brother Job who declared this as his heart felt confession, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

In God’s good plan, we continue by running, looking to Jesus, we rightly understand discipline, and we finish by a refocused: Resolve to continue, look at verses 12-17 as we finish.

The life of faith is worth it, look at the witnesses of Old that point to God being faithful. We do this by considering, thinking, preaching to ourselves the reality of Jesus. He endured so that the enabling grace of the gospel of Christ would help us not grow weary in our own journey. That means we understand our discipline, not as a mistake, not as an interruption, but God’s training and correction of our hearts to be more like Him.

Therefore, we take action. The Christian life is not a passive one, it’s a call to think, believe, and live according to God’s ways. So in light of our gazing, beholding, becoming like Jesus and receiving the Lord’s guidance we act.

What is the prescription given? We lift and strengthen verse 12, we make straight paths verse 13. In our contemporary vernacular we might say we wake up, take a shower, and take a fresh crack at it. Verse 14-16 is one long run on sentence, and the main clause is found at the beginning, we are to strive for peace with everyone.

The way we continue following the Lord’s ways has a direct impact on our living with others around us in a Christ like manner. It’s part of the holiness, verse 14, that we are to have that displays we’ve been truly changed by the gospel and are born again believers.

There’s much to resolve and aim toward here, but I’d like to make one observation and focus on two significant areas of pastoral wisdom and care the writer provides.

First, I’d like to point out that all of these verses are in the context of a corporate setting, not an individual one. Written to a group of struggling Christians, the urging to lift, strengthen, make, strive… it’s all placed on the Body together. It’s an act, a lifestyle, a conscious resolution of a church to do it together. Verse 15, ‘see to it’ that no one fails to obtain the grace of God. Look out together, search, be aware of those who may be struggling, falling away, see to it they have brothers and sisters around them. Lakewood, would you commit and resolve to this corporate assignment from the Lord?

Yet it’s the end of verse 15 through 17 that I want to sit on for a moment. There is a corporate resolution to see to it, to make sure there is ‘no root of bitterness’ springing up and causing trouble. I’ve been working through a short booklet in my personal reading, discovering that a suppression of anger and hurt, a measure of hostility and pain from the past has required me to own this sin, called bitterness.

Following the pastor’s thoughts through Hebrews, especially the last couple chapters. If you and I do not have an assurance, conviction, trust, and confidence that is a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, if we are not looking to Him as we lay aside weights and sins, if we wrongly understand God’s discipline, training, and correction, if we interpret our circumstances outside of a gospel lens, if we elevate ourselves and not Christ, we will be bitter. And I’m certain I’m not the only one here who struggles with this.

Of all the sins that could be listed, the pastor knows that Christians, when they wrongly view their sufferings and circumstances, they will become bitter and it will lead to trouble and defilement. If you have past hurts, if you project those hurts wrongly onto others, if your anger has been covered up by Christian niceties, if you’ve suppressed it all and there’s a root of bitter water that spills out of you when you are tipped over by people and situations, bring it to the Lord. Cast your cares and sins on Him. Own your bitterness, seek to offer forgiveness to those who don’t deserve it, and protect yourself from being a joyless man and woman. Lift your drooping hands, strengthen those weak knees and muscles, strive for peace, be healed.

The second prescription is brought to us through the historical narrative of Esau in verses 16 and 17. If you go back and read Genesis 25 and 27, you read of family dysfunction, they all had their issues. But it was an older brother named Esau who sold his inheritance from God for a bowl of stew.

Our writer here in Hebrews 12:16 says that we are not to be sexually immoral or unholy like Esau. Now some have argued that this is a comment based upon the two women that he decided to marry that displeased his parents, and that could be, but I think another point is being made.

Esau was a man motivated by his appetites and cravings. Like someone pursuing sexual immorality, he chose instant gratification over being faithful to the timing of God’s ways and provisions. He had irreversible loss due to despising what is sacred, he treated the holy things of God as worthless. He is brought forward as another warning as we’ve seen many through the letter now.

To be swayed by our feelings, to give into our appetites and cravings, to face circumstance, oppression, and suffering and to take the easy way, the quick way it brings dire consequences. Esau was unable to repent, unable to reverse his decision, unable to come back from his unfaithfulness.

Think back on our prior sermons… chapter 2, don’t drift, chapter 3, don’t harden your hearts and fall away, chapter 4, seek to enter true rest, chapter 6 it is impossible to fall away finally and be restored truly, chapter 10, draw near to God while you can, it’s a fearful thing to be in the hands of the living God. Here is our passage, don’t go back to the Old ways, don’t be bitter, don’t take the easy way out, it will only lead to trouble.

We are brought to a resolution, a volitional choice and action. Lift, strengthen, make, strive, see to it… or as we said: This is God’s good plan, keep going!

The mind God has given you, the life He’s assigned, the family you’ve been born in, the State in which you reside, the country to which you belong, the circumstances you are fighting, the pain you are experiencing, the evil you see in you and around you, your joys and delights, your milestones and celebrations, it is the Lord’s weaving all things for His glory and your good.

You become what you behold. So through the pastor, God moves and works to provide you Hebrews 12. A fresh vision of Christ in trials. He is better, look to Him as you run.

Joel Beeke ‘Meet the Puritans’

“Another cause of the Lord’s seeming slackness to deliver us for the present, is our slackness to praise him for the deliverances past. Unthankfulness; this is the witch, the sorceress, whose drowsy enchantments have made us even forget God himself. If we forget him, can he be blamed for slackness to remember us?” pg. 56

Thomas Adams (1583-1652), was an English Puritan who didn’t quite fit the mold of many of his contemporaries. He argued that much of the reform in his day was far too sectarian and full of separatism. No matter, his devotion to the Lord, his rich theology, and faithful pastoral ministry is celebrated. Charles Spurgeon argued his commentary on 2 Peter was the best he’d ever read under a particular editor’s leadership.

Adams’ quote above is an example of his striking ability to convey on paper, truths that move the heart.

A short prayer: Lord, take the witch and her enchantments away from me, produce in me a thankful for past deliverances and an earnest expectation for your soon deliverance of my current plight. In Jesus’ name, amen!

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Jim Wilson ‘How to be free from bitterness’

“How can we stop this sinful habit of gossiping…?
First, don’t spread it… Bridle your tongue…
Second, don’t listen to it!… Steer the conversation to a discussion of the person’s good points” pg. 55

In a warm and inviting little chapter on controlling the tongue and avoiding gossip, Wilson suggests 4 questions to consider before you speak. Lord help us!

1. Why am I saying this?
   "Be careful how you answer this first question. If you catch yourself trying to justify or to excuse something negative that you are about to say concerning somebody, you are probably on the threshold of slander."

2. Is it possible there is another side to the story?
   "If our story is unauthenticated, then we are gossiping."

3. Would I feel comfortable saying this to Jesus?
   "How would God answer us after we shared with Him some negative information concerning another? Very likely He would respond by asking us what relevance the information has to our following Him."

4. Am I building up the person I’m speaking to by sharing this?
   "Charles Spurgeon once said that gossip ‘emits a threefold poision; it injures the teller, the hearer, and the person concerning whom the tale is told.’”

John Steinbeck’s ‘East of Eden’ is a 600 page novel wrestling with the realities of good and evil, following the history of a family, surrounded by other families, that possess both. Rather skillfully, at key moments in the book, Steinbeck inserts little vignettes of philosophical riffing.

Here is one that stands out. It does not represent a comprehensive understanding of life and choice and consequence, as a Christian there are some key things I’d personally add. But it may it help you and I contemplate the life we lead.

Which man are you?

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“I remember clearly the deaths of three men.

One was the richest man of the century, who, having clawed his way to wealth through the souls and bodies of men, spent many years trying to buy back the love he had forfeited and by that process performed great service to the world and, perhaps, had much more than balanced the evils of his rise. I was on a ship when he died. The news was posted on the bulletin board, and nearly everyone received the news with pleasure. Several said, ‘Thank God that son of a bitch is dead.’

Then there was a man, smart as Satan, who, lacking some perception of human dignity and knowing all too well every aspect of human weakness and wickedness, used his special knowledge to warp men, to buy men, to bribe and threaten and seduce until he found himself in a position of great power. He clothed his motives in the names of virtue, and I have wondered whether he ever knew that no gift will ever buy back a man’s love when you have removed his self-love. A bribed man can only hate his briber. When this man died the nation rang with praise and, just beneath, with gladness that he was dead.

There was a third man, who perhaps made many errors in performance but whose effective life was devoted to making men brave and dignified and good in a time when they were poor and frightened and when ugly forces were loose in the world to utilize their fears. This man was hated by the few. When he died the people burst into tears in the streets and their minds wailed, ‘What can we do now? How can we go on without him?’

In uncertainty I am certain that underneath their topmost layers of frailty men want to be good and want to be loved. Indeed, most of their vices are attempted short cuts to love. When a man comes to die, no matter his talents and influence and genius, if he dies unloved his life must be a failure to him and his dying a cold horror. It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world.

We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.”

Pg. 412-413

A common question you’ll hear today is often asked like this, ‘What is faith to YOU?’. I don’t particularly like the question, and it exposes some of the cultural waters that we swim in. People have all kinds of conceptions about what faith is, and whether it be they or you yourself, no one needs a purely subjective answer on the question. We’d all like some clarity on this, me included.

Some would argue that faith is simply the mere mental ascent to academic truths, I have faith, the sun is golden brown, God is real and Jesus died and rose from the grave. Others might appeal to external action and say that faith is an active commitment and slew of good works for God. Many will rely largely on language that communicates how they feel and point to emotional assurances of faith. Whether it be country songs, vague beliefs people say they have, or cliché Hobby Lobby signs, pillows, and rocks that have the word ‘faith’ on them in your home… we hear and see these things everywhere.

God brings us to a famous passage that lays out what true, saving faith entails. We’ll summarize our text with our main idea that will simply be this: Your faith in Christ pleases God.

Just as 1 Corinthians 13 is known as the love chapter, Hebrews 11 is known as the faith chapter. Our writer, a pastor himself, at the end of chapter 10 informed his readers that we are all brought before a fork in the road, a decision must be made. Will we shrink back from God and His ways, will we turn from Jesus being at the center of our lives? Or will we be those who possess genuine faith and our souls are preserved?

The wonderful news we discovered last Sunday is that we are the latter if we are truly faithful followers of Christ. Those truly connected to Christ are safe, kept, and will have biblical faith. A statement like that may make you nervous, you feel that dreadful sensation of doubt and you ask, is my faith enough? My performance, my week, my sinful tendencies, how do I know if my faith is pleasing to God? Because either it is or it isn’t!

As a kind gift, Hebrews 11 is for you my weary pilgrim. We will survey a chapter that brings further confidence to the imperfect Christian and a warm invitation to those who don’t have true faith but are welcome to it. So, whether you’ve walked with Christ your whole life, or you have been around spiritual and religious things and mistakenly think you own saving faith, or you are here considering Christianity and the prospect of true faith for the first time, you are right where God would have you.

For our purposes we’ll read Hebrews 11, verses 1-6 and use this to launch into an overview of the entire chapter.

God says this to us, starting in verse 1:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Your faith, my dear Christian saint, it pleases God. To be convinced of this we’ll first cover the definition of faith and then carefully consider 12 fruits of faith that are given in our passage.

First, The Definition of Faith, we’ll focus for a moment on verses 1-3. As we read, the pastor doesn’t leave it up to our imagination, there is an objective explanation of what faith entails and it’s far less subjective than we may first think as we read these verses.

If you’ll look down at the text again, I find it helpful reading it in the present, in an active voice. I have assurance of the things I’m hoping for, I have a conviction in the things I cannot see. We read the ESV’s rendering of this; but it’s a nuanced phrase that can be lost a bit in our English bibles. If you read out of the NLT or the old King James, I like how yours says it, more woodenly it might read, faith is the substance or the reality of what we are hoping for. Faith is not a wish as you throw a penny in the fountain and hope things work out, faith is a hope in a tangible and substantive reality.

This word, assurance, Hebrews 1:3 uses the same word, if you remember where Jesus is described as the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, substance, or assurance.

Biblical faith is a placing of hope and trust in certainty, reality, and assurances that have, as we said, substance. The second phrase only solidifies it; faith is a hope and trust that has conviction and evidence in things you cannot yet see.

Trying to get a firm grasp on this myself, I found a few nuggets of wisdom, I’d like to share. One said it this way, “faith is confidence in those things that are not present to us but are promised in the Word of God.”

Another, giving a helpful example of this says,
“we are told of the resurrection but meantime we are involved in corruption…
we are declared to be just, but sin dwells in us…
we are told we are blessed, but we are overwhelmed by untold miseries…
we are promised an abundance of good, but are often hungry and thirsty…
God proclaims He will come, but seems to be deaf to our cries…”

God’s Word declares unseen realities that often seem to conflict with our experience. This is where faith comes into play.

The quote finishes,
“What would happen to us if we did not rely on our hope, and if our minds did not emerge above the world out of the midst of darkness through the shining Word of God and by His Spirit? Faith is therefore rightly called the substance of things which are still the objects of hope and the evidence of things not seen.”

A couple common illustrations might serve us well. I watched many of you come into this sanctuary this morning, you all exercised faith as you sat in your seats. No one tested their seat, no one measured the chair, no one inspected the legs to see if they would hold you. Rather you had a hope and a trust in a certainty, you had a conviction in a future unseen reality, when I sit down today, it will hold me.

Many of you exercise the same kind of principled faith when you board an airplane. You don’t ask for the pilot’s credentials, you don’t inspect the engines, rather you sit down, buckle up and put your trust in unseen realities, you have a reliance, a conviction, an assurance, a hope in a reality… I will make it to my destination.

Wrongly pitted against each other is the idea of faith and the using of our faculties to think and reason. Never tell someone to not think and just believe, that’s not biblical faith.

Look at the example of verse 3, it is an act of faith to understand and believe God’s revealed testimony that He spoke the world into existence, out of nothing He brought the galaxies, our Earth, and humanity into being. We were not there; we did not witness it. Our hope, trust, and faith are that as we receive the Scriptures account of history, as we empirically observe the world around us, even though we did not witness it personally, we have the assurance and conviction that God created all things.

This foundationally shapes how we understand true biblical, saving faith. With words like assurance, substance, reality, and conviction. “Faith is not just belief in outcomes—it is trust in a Person, and Hebrews will show us that Person is Christ.” We’ll observe more as we now consider: The Fruit of Faith.

Pastor Jarrod and I were speaking about this, this past week, we’ll likely one day do a series on Hebrews 11 and slowly walk through each example of Old Testament heroes of the faith. For our purposes, in light of a clear definition of faith, the pastor records several examples, outcomes, and fruits of true biblical faith. I have 12 of note for us to chew on together. As we succinctly go through them, prayerfully reflect on your own profession of faith. Do you have true faith? Is the faith you profess producing similar fruit? Are you considering true faith for the first time or in a comeback to God and His ways? “If your faith produces none of these—no longing for God, no obedience, no endurance—then you don’t need to tweak your life… you need to examine whether your faith is real.”

Here is what God will produce in you.

Ordained lives

First, Ordained lives in verses 4 and 5. The assurance, hope, and conviction that was Abel and Enoch’s faith is brought before us as readers. Many believe the pastor starts with these men because they represent the extreme ends of a life of faith. Abel is killed by his brother, which many understand as the first martyrdom in human history. The other, Enoch did not see death and is an early anticipation and shadow pointing to resurrection promises for God’s people. The point is this for those first readers and us today, our ordained lives of faith will look different. There is no cookie cutter life of faith, whether it be an early death, a bringing up to Heaven, or the unnumberable circumstances we will all face, God has a plan for each of our faith journeys.

Reverent fear

Second, we are told of the fruit of faith that produces a reverent fear. Look down at verse 7 in your copy of the Scriptures. With assurance, hope and conviction, Noah’s faith was famously expressed in the building of an ark for he and his family in the book of Genesis. God’s warning of a global judgment in a flood, God’s instruction for Noah was heard, though unseen. So, in reverence, in awe, in a fear that isn’t cowering but obedient, Noah had faith in what God told Him, Noah followed God when unseen realities lay in front of him. This was in contrast to the world around him.

A similar expression is also given with Moses further down in verse 28. In God’s rescue of Israel, as He redeemed/bought them out of slavery from Egypt, Moses obeyed, revered, and trusted as an act of faith, God’s instruction to sprinkle blood over his door, asking God to Passover him in judgment. So, we stop for a moment and ask, has your profession of faith produced reverence to God?

Welcomed risk

Next, we have welcomed risk in verse 8. Abraham was a moon worshipper from a distant land when God initiated, spoke to him, and called him not just to a relationship but a new life and a new locale. Look how the pastor describes Abe’s faith, ‘he went out, not knowing where he was going’. Can you imagine having an assurance, conviction, and certainty that you will pick up and go and you’re not sure where you’re going but God’s got you? Young people, biblical faith takes appropriate risk in the Christian life. God will call you to trust in Him and not yourself, you cannot plan, organize, calculate, and structure every detail of your life. God will call and ask you to follow… older saints, ask God how you can model this well in your later years. Do you have a profession of faith that takes risks when God asks it of you?

Another country

Fourth, the fruit of faith will have you longing for another country. We see this in multiple examples in this chapter and through the Scriptures. Abraham because of his assurance, conviction and trust, he went to live in a foreign land verse 9, was willing to live in tents because, verse 10, he was looking forward to the city, another city, a celestial city in which God is the builder. Verse 13, these heroes of faith died, not having received the full inheritance of promises, but greeted them from afar, that is they looked forward to another life, end of the verse, they understood they were strangers and exiles on this earth, this was not their ultimate home.

Their ultimate home is described verse 16, as a better country. Joseph looked forward, and so did Israel verse 29, as they crossed the Red Sea. The land of Canaan was God’s kind gift, but it was given as a shadow of another country, another garden. Does your faith produce a gratefulness for your current home but a full longing for another country?

Baby trust

Fifth, do you have an assurance and conviction in unseen things, that God is in control of your children? Notice verse 11, by faith Sarah received power to conceive. Even her intimacy with her husband was an act of prayer and hope in that God would bring forth children. Verse 17, Abraham held his son’s life loosely trusting God would protect him, even verse 19, bring him back from the dead if need be. Verse 23, Moses’ parents put him in a little ark and sent him down the river trusting him to God.

This past week my father was kind enough to take Lisa and I and the kids to Wisconsin Dells for two days. We get to the park; the kids scatter with a buddy system and run off for fun. Lisa and I grab two tubes and walk Jones, our 7-year-old son, to the top of the first slide. When get up there it is explained to us that our tubes are for only 1 person and my son is not allowed to sit on my lap. Looking at each other, not sure what to do, my wife and I put little Jones on a tube, and we send him down the dark tunnel.

I’m not sure I’m able to describe the scream I heard. And I turn to Lisa and say, ‘Well, he’s in God’s hands now.’ Rather, thinking we killed him, we ran down only for him to run up and go down the slide again before we could find him with the biggest smile on his face.

Whether it be first time slides, barrenness, miscarriage, sickness, exploding diapers, or their launching out into this world as adults, does your profession of faith believe that God loves you and them, and you can trust His plans for your children? Lord help us!

Wise disobedience

Next, continuing with Moses’ parents, notice the fruit of their faith, again in verse 23. They trusted God with their child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. Their assurance and conviction in God’s ways led them to defy the king. Not when their preferences weren’t met, but when it would cause them to sin against the Lord. Not only was it faith that preserved a child’s life, but it was also faith in verse 31, the conviction of a prostitute named Rahab who welcomed and protected God’s people when there was a policy to do otherwise.

Does your profession of faith in God and His ways lead you to humbly, boldly, and in principle disobey human standards because you believe God’s standards are not only better, but His call on your life?

True identity

Seventh, we see that biblical faith connects us to our true identity. Moses is a model for us though brought up in a certain family and a culture, he refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter, verse 25. Not knowing the Savior’s name, Jesus, still Moses identified himself with the promised Christ verse 26, he was looking toward the true reward. A reward of being God’s child, a reward of having forgiveness, intimacy, and the promises of God connected by faith that inherited children receive.

Is your profession of faith marked by your political leanings, education, ethnicity, or vocation? We all may choose to describe ourselves certain ways, but Christians are to be known by their ultimate identity in Christ first and foremost. Is that true of you?

Uncommon ways

Eighth, look down at verses 29-30, we see a conviction, assurance, and hope in God’s people following God’ uncommon ways. Our children learn very quickly in churches like ours that God led his people to cross through the Red Sea as the waters were parted and they made it safely to dry land. Some of you kids have reenacted the famous scene as Israel takes possession of the land and overcomes the city of Jericho by simply walking around it for seven days and blowing a trumpet. Neither of these would hardly seem prudent or practical according to our human schemes.

Yet whether it be these, or God’s call on your life to be prayerful, not seek power, wash other people’s feet, forgive the unforgiveable, submit to the government, or turn the other cheek… God’s ways may be uncommon to our natural tendencies, but they are to be received by faith. Does your profession of faith trust God’s ways are better than our grasps at control and dictating outcomes in our ways?

Conquered kingdoms

Ninth, we are told of the fruit of faith and conviction that summarizes the assurance that led those like David and Samuel and others to conquer kingdoms starting in verse 33. True biblical faith takes action, it doesn’t simply promote good ideas, it fights for them and values them.

Look over some of the good outcomes God’s people produced in their trust of God and His ways. Justice, obtained promises, the mouths of lions stopped, verse 34, fire quenched, weak made strong, verse 35, dead brought back to life.

Does your profession of faith have a confidence and optimism? Do you believe that if you are faithful to God’s ways and encourage others to God’s ways that real change and conquering can come through the gospel? Do you believe that a life of faith and obedience to God will produce good fruit?

Earthly torture

Tenth, as we said in the original framing of verse 4 and 5, the fruit of faith cannot be manipulated or manufactured. In verses 35-38, these men and women were just as faithful and successful in God’s eyes. They possessed a hope and confidence in the things of God, such that they were willing to be tortured verse 35, endured mocking and flogging verse 36, were stoned, cut in two and killed verse 37. Many wandered in deserts, mountains, and caves because they had no home or safety, verse 38.

While, no doubt, they were not perfect people with perfect faith. Their conviction led them to persevere, abide, and continue in God’s ways in faith, knowing their circumstances are not guaranteed smooth and comfortable because they follow God. Do you have a profession of faith that is willing to embrace suffering as God’s good plan and bring Him glory in heartache?

Jesus focused

Eleventh, we consider the object of faith of each of these brothers and sisters listed in Hebrews 11. Though not explicit, it’s implicit in our text. Verse 4 shows us that Abel offered gifts to God in accordance with the teaching of his parents Adam and Eve, who told him not only of worship but also likely the promised offspring who would come one day to crush the serpent and set all things right.

In a similar way, verse 9, Abraham’s inheritance was a land yes, but only in part as God told him that from Him would come a nation and ultimately through Him blessing to all families in the earth would arrive. In the New Covenant we discover that Jesus is the fulfilled offspring of Abraham who blesses the world. Who, verse Hebrews 11:12, would be the conduit in which millions of stars, grains of sand, and offspring of Abraham would come through faith.

In verses 17-19, it was Abraham’s hope and faith in God’s promises in a future offspring to come that assured him Isaac would be safe. As we alluded to already, it was Jesus, the future Christ, that Moses identified with in verse 26 as he chose to love God and place his faith in Him rather than the world around him.

Throughout this faith chapter we find many: Adam and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rahab and David, they are all connected to the family lineage of Jesus. All of their personal faith was in the future Christ and it is given to you as a model to see where you are to place yours, the Lord Jesus.

Christians are to have an assurance and conviction, a trust and surety in the hope of forgiveness, newness, and closeness with God offered to those who have faith in Jesus. His character, His words and ways, and most especially His death and resurrection.

“The question is not, ‘Do I have perfect faith?’
The question is, ‘Is my faith resting on Jesus?’
Even weak faith, if it clings to a strong Savior, saves.”

God’s commendation

Lastly, we finish with the fruit of faith known as God’s commendation. You may be challenged and encouraged by all we see here in this chapter, but this must not be missed. This idea continues from our text last Sunday and it’s repeated through our passage. Verse 2, the people of old were commended for biblical faith. Verse 4 and 5, Abel and Enoch were commended for their faith.

Look carefully at verse 6 again, ‘without faith it is impossible to please him’. The chapter finishes as well, quickly glance down at verse 39, ‘and all of these, though commended through their faith’.

I think this naturally leads us to the question, ‘will God commend me for my faith?’. The word commend may be a bit dated for us; it has the idea of approval. Will God give approval of my faith? Does my faith have the same approval as all those listed here with their various fruits?

The word ‘commend’ is the same that we get the biblical word ‘witness’ from, it’s also the same word we get martyr from. One pastor explains Hebrews 11 in light of that by saying this:

“God has taken the witness stand to testify on behalf of OT believers, that they were righteous and pleasing to him…”

God’s commending is his witness and declaration, that their faith was approved. Which should greatly encourage us. Because whether it is Abel whose family started the business of sin, or Abraham whose faith failed in spectacular fashion in sexual integrity, doubting God’s promises, and offering his wife to save his own skin… Or Noah whose last account of his life we find him a drunk or Moses who killed a man and was barred from the promise land for a later episode of anger, or David who slept with a woman not his wife and killed her husband…

Through the pastor of Hebrews, God declares and commends and approves their imperfect faith. He doesn’t cosign on their sin, but He reminds them and us, that it is not the size of our faith, not the vigor and vibrancy of our faith, not the perfection of our faith, rather it is the object of our faith that keeps us. To answer the question directly, yes: Your faith in Christ pleases God.

These many fruits in Hebrews 11 and more, they will increasingly be true of your life. Your faith will not be some hopeful blind wish upon a star. Rather it will be an assured, convictional reality of things unseen because your trust is in God and His word.

If Jesus is the object of your faith, if your profession is true, continues, doesn’t shrink back, and imperfectly rests in Him… you will see your faith deepen and strengthen, you will see your faith endure in trials, rejoice in God’s good gifts, and it will bring great glory and honor to Him.

Brothers and sisters, allow this morning to be a timely reminder of what you ultimately need. A vision of Christ and a hope in His gospel, a settled faith that looks to Him.

As we enter the final chapters of this sermon, called the letter of Hebrews, the pastor is writing to a group of Jewish Christians in the first century. He’s been making a singular argument; ‘You need a vision of Christ, He is better’. Pastor Dave served us well last week in the first half of Hebrews 10. In contrast to the Old Covenant and the endless sacrifices that took place, sacrifices that could not pay for sins (Hebrews 10:11), brought before them was a beautiful statement of who Christ is and how His death and resurrection is the fulfillment of God’s plan through the ages. I’m still sitting on Dave’s memorable line, ‘God does not keep the score against his people’. Praise God, we are a forgiven and redeemed if we trust and follow Christ.

This morning, now turning to the second half of Hebrews 10, the pastor informs those first readers and you and I this thought, and it will be our main idea as we contemplate God’s Words, namely this: You can have confidence amid a chaotic world. Or said another way, “In a chaotic world, Jesus’ blood gives you unshakable confidence to draw near and not fall away.”

What was true in the first century is alive and well today… chaos. Broken families, political warring, financial crisis, cultural fracturing among people who look and think differently, secret personal sin, differences amid God’s people, various trials, and all the rest. Certainly, these computers in our pockets and the advent of 24-hour news and social media puts it all before our face like never before, but the underlying issues and turmoil of humanity remains.

So, what is it that will keep us anchored? How will we navigate the waves of our culture or even our own emotions that swing from one end to the other? How can you be confident that you are following God’s ways and not your own? Even more deeply to be considered, and closer to the thrust of our section, how can you be confident that you are a faithful follower of Christ and He is worth following in the midst of difficulty, circumstance, doubt, and heart break?

God brings us a word today that will give you a fuller perception of Christ and a confidence as you live the life that He has uniquely given you. And you may be surprised by a couple things. We will see that confidence comes from Christ, not your circumstances.

Our text will be Hebrews 10:19-39, if you will please take a copy of the Scriptures and turn there. In reverence to God’s Word, a short prayer from the Puritan Stephen Charnock, “Lord, is it not better to make me your friend than to let me continue as your enemy? Would you not be glorified more by raising a soul from sin than a Lazarus from the grave? So overcome my shame nature by your merciful power.” Use your word to change us, in Jesus’ name, amen.

God says this to us starting in Hebrews 10:19…

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; 38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

My friend, God’s aim is for you to be a confident follower of Christ. We see this first by way of a: Confidence in the Blood in verses 19-23.

The first word we read in verse 19 is a connecting word, ‘therefore’. It signals to us an application is being made. The writer’s argument flows like this: In light of the last 10 chapters, Jesus being better than angels, Moses, prophets, and priests. In light of the New Covenant, this new promise relationship through Jesus being better and the fulfillment of the Old, in light of Jesus being our High Priest, our Savior, and the One who sacrificed Himself to pay for our sins… in light of all that, therefore or consider with me how we are to live as Christians.

And make no mistake about it, what you find and believe about Christianity in the Scriptures is to be lived out. All the theology and doctrine and teaching of Jesus and the New Covenant is to lead us to act and love according to God’s ways. And this is true of every person you’ve ever met, “you don’t live according to what you say you believe – you live according to what you actually trust and believe.” The pastor is saying the same thing, all these truths are to bring about an application, it is to produce a certain reality as we trust who He is and what He has said.

Perhaps to our surprise, all the theology and doctrine of the preceding chapters is to lead us to be confident people, individually and collectively. Not a confidence in ourselves, but as verse 19 states it, a confidence to enter the holy places, a confidence to be in God’s presence because of the blood of Jesus. I’ll confess, and maybe some of you have had this experience, that when I became a Christian at 20 years old, with no significant religious background, I was a bit taken aback by showing up to Church and people talking about blood all the time.

Especially in the songs, ‘nothing but the blood’, ‘power in the blood’, ‘are you washed in the blood’, ‘there is a fountain filled with blood’, I wondered if they were appropriate. New to the whole Christian thing I was hopeful I hadn’t joined a cult of some kind, I’d never heard anything like this before.

Yet it is passages like ours today that have caused Christians to sing and have confidence in a chaotic world, we can be close to God because of Jesus’ blood. He died and rose again so I can be near God. That’s essentially what follows in the next verses that continues what we’ve heard the last few chapters. Verse 20, the blood of Jesus creates a new and living way. The curtain in the Temple under the Old Covenant has been torn, that curtain was a symbol of Jesus’ flesh, Jesus’ body was broken so we can enter in. Verse 21, he is our great priest, the one who welcomes us into the house of God. Glorious truths we’ve been tracking through the letter.

However, what I’d like us to do is to key in on two commands given in verse 22 and 23. Commands that are to flow from a confidence we have that Jesus shed His blood to pay for our sins. Commands that God has spoken through the writer to give to faithful followers of Christ through the ages.

Command #1, verse 22, ‘let us draw near’. This certainly is a call to prayer, but more broadly it’s a call to a life of worship. With full assurance, with confidence that we’ve been sprinkled clean by the blood of Jesus, having our consciences and lives washed, God would have you confidently draw near to Him in your daily life, a life that is full of worship. And this is so practical, whether it is in fact private devotion in reading and prayer, going to work, eating and drinking, kissing your spouse, going to school and playing sports, or attending the gathering on Sunday with your brothers and sisters, it’s all worship, we are to honor and elevate God in everything we do, we recognize Him and draw near… and because of the blood of Jesus you can have confidence and relish in your nearness to God and His indwelling in you, every day.

Command #2, verse 23, ‘let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering’ because or for, ‘he is faithful’. We’ve heard this language already back in chapter 3 and 4, each time in the middle of a warning. God enables and calls His people to persevere, to unashamedly declare the blood of Jesus, to hold to a hope that is not built upon your personal merit, not a confidence in your morality, financial status, family dynamic, political party or preferred and acceptable circumstances in your life.

As we’ve often sung, hope has a name, Jesus. He is the faithful one, He has accomplished by way of His gospel access, freedom, forgiveness, and right standing with God. His shed blood is part of that great confession and because of His promises, His character, and His work, it gives us a supernatural confidence that God is God and He is with us, we hold to Him as our confession. Confidence comes from Christ, not your circumstances.

Next, we see not just a confidence in the blood of Jesus, but also a: Confidence in Loving Others, look again at verses 24-31. The word ‘and’ in verse 24, it continues the thought and adds an additional command, ‘let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works’. You’re confident remember? Not in yourself, but because of Christ. His work, His blood, is what enables you to draw near and hold fast your hope. It is to also give you a confidence in your love, pursuit, and service to those around you.

What does it mean to stir up others to love and good works? I think many Christians have a very vague understanding of this, but this verse is often thought of in warm tone. You may think you’ll be a good example, you’ll be kind, and you’ll softly encourage someone to do good. And all of those are great and I hope you do them, but it’s not exactly what the pastor is commanding us to do. How do we often use this phrase in our modern vernacular? Usually, on a Wednesday night when I teach Kindergarten through 2^nd grade, there are some rascals who stir each other up and the group struggles to listen. My children at times will stir each other up before bedtime. Someone at work is a complainer and it stirs up frustration and anxiety in the whole office.

‘Stir up’ often has a negative connotation to it. This unique word and phrase, only used twice in the New Testament, here and in Acts 15:39. Here is how Luke uses the phrase to describe a famous scene in early church history between Paul and Barnabas.

“And there arose a sharp disagreement (a stir up), so that they separated from each other.”

The command in Hebrews 10:24 for us to stir up one another is more confrontational than polite Mid Westerners like us would prefer. It’s literally a call for us to cause, initiate, plainly speak in a way where we point others to love and good works and it may not always be well received.

I have countless stories as a pastor, and some of you are in them, where I’ve sought to stir up love, good works, and faithfulness in you and there has been a sharp disagreement. But this is not merely the work of a pastor, it’s to be the committed ministry of every person who calls themselves a friend and a Christian. Let me give you perhaps my favorite and most explosive example.

Many years ago, I was leading a men’s group, and we were all out one Saturday afternoon for lunch, there were probably 12 of us. One gentleman in the group had just recently committed a grievous sin, so shocking I won’t mention it here. The pastors and I were aware, we were working with him. Well, another gentleman in the group caught wind of it. And in the middle of lunch, he points his finger at him, raises his voice, and scolds him for his wickedness and calls him to repentance, telling him to make it right with those he hurt.

As you might imagine, the tone and the setting created an embarrassing situation. So, the guilty man stands up and says some words, and finishes with, ‘do you want to take this outside?’ They both agree and walk out. Now I run out after them and an important detail to all of this is that they are giant men. Both easily 6’5 and weighed 80+ pounds more than me. I’m standing between them with my arms extended, I’m sure it looked rather comical.

Afterward I was so upset with my friend who called out the guilty man. His tone was accusatory, he was unnecessarily aggressive, it caused a scene, it wasn’t nice or polite and quite frankly I thought he was an idiot for doing what he did. Yet in the grace of God, the Lord used it and it led to genuine confession, a turning to Christ, a first-time true belief in the gospel and that man being baptized some months later by the individual he had wronged. A kind grace of God.

“Now that moment was unusual, and not a model for how every correction should happen—but it does show us that love is willing to move toward someone, even when it’s uncomfortable.”

The ends don’t necessarily justify the means. This is not a call to be rude, harsh, and confrontational for the fun of it. One pastor has said it this way:

“The term ‘stir up’ means to incite or provoke or stimulate. The way we live and talk and act should be provocative to other Christians in the best sense of the word.”

We are to stir up one another so we take God and His ways seriously. You can provoke and have sharp disagreements in love. It may cause an immature believer or non-Christian to be upset with you, but when you are spurring them on to love and good works you care more about their soul than you do how much they like you in the moment. Do you love them enough to stir them up?

An example of deliberate sin is given in verse 25 and 26, you may have to pursue and stir someone up who is neglecting to join the gathering of God’s people on the Lord’s day. While there are legit and real reasons why someone cannot gather and worship on Sunday, it seems in their day just as in our own, people make excuses or lifestyle choices that don’t prioritize the worship of God with brothers and sisters. If you have someone in your life in that situation, go stir them up, invite them in.

And whether it is not worshipping with Gods people, pornography, idolatry of politics and sports, not praying with your spouse and children, apathy in the Christian life, or a constant grumbling and gossiping spirit, we pursue, we stir up, in love we have a confidence to challenge, invite, encourage, cry with, and even at times imperfectly exhort over a meal.

Why do we do this? Because as we’ve seen in the warning passages in Hebrews chapters 2-6, just because you are around the people of God and the things of God or say some correct things about God, it does not mean you have truly been changed by Him and know Him. Verse 25, the Day is drawing near. It’s a day of judgment verse 27. You’ve read the consequences from breaking the Old Covenant and the Law of Moses, verse 29, how much worse is the consequence for those who trample over Jesus and profane His blood. To know of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, to know the promises of confidence in His blood, and to spit in his face and not follow His ways. We stir up those we love because, verse 30, the Lord is the judge, it’s a fearful thing, verse 31 to be guilty and be in his hands of judgment.

We have confidence to love others because the blood of Jesus enables us to stir up, to chase after, and to warn men, women, and children, if you turn from and hate God’s ways, there is nothing, but vengeance left for you. Confidence comes from Christ, not your circumstances.

Confidence in the blood, in loving others, lastly soberly contemplate with me a: Confidence in Struggle, I’ll make a few remarks on verses 32-39. Someone needs to write a book on how the pastor in Hebrews instructs not just pastors but Christians to love and encourage others.

Look down again at verse 32, ‘But’… In contrast to the difficult task of uncomfortably stirring one another up, in contrast to those who go on sinning deliberately and trample on the blood of Jesus, in contrast to the fearful realities of God’s judgment that awaits deserving sinners… But, in contrast, that’s not you dear saint.

He invites them to think back on their dangerous journey of faith as a Christian. Earlier days of struggle and suffering, how they were publicly embarrassed and hurt, and verse 33, how they partnered with other sufferers as well. Remember when your confidence in Christ led you to be a compassionate friend to those in prison, when you received even someone stealing from you as God’s plan verse 34, because your hope was not in this world but the next? You held the things of this world so loosely.

We begin a section that is explicit in describing the context of the letter and the battle of these first century Jewish Christians. Why were they tempted to leave Christ and go back to Judaism, why did they want priests, temples, sacrifices, and the Law of Moses again? Because they were in a season, they wanted to quit, God was bringing them through the fire of trial and heart ache, and it seemed as though Jesus wasn’t enough.

Do you know this feeling? Oh God, how will I get through this season? Personally, I can look back at financial fears, secret sin, my imperfect parenting, dry and difficult times in marriage. I still battle doubts of my place in this world, insecurity, I’m navigating a strange season of 4 beautiful teenage daughters and two dynamic boys. God, you showed up in the past, but I’m not sure if you will now.

What does our pastor tell me and you today? Verse 35, look again, ‘do not throw away your confidence’. Look back on the faithfulness of God, remember how He cared for you in prior trial, remember when you had confidence in the blood of Jesus that He was near, remember how godly brothers and sisters stirred you up and challenged and encouraged you to continue and endure? Your current sufferings are not some accident or cosmic coincidence, rather by Divine Design, God has you where He has you. And you can be confident that He will show up today and tomorrow just as He did in the past.

It will be worth it, when He calls you home or returns you will receive the full measure of what He has promised you. Intimacy, joy, fulfillment, and the complete satisfaction of love in Christ. A quote of the prophet Habakkuk in verses 37 and 38, it won’t be long my friend, he will not delay. Brought to a fork in the road we have two choices, verse 38 we will live by faith as the declared righteous people of God, or our trials will cause us to shrink back and turn from the Lord. If these believers returned to the Old Covenant, if they shrink back, they will not know and experience the pleasure and smile of God.

Brothers and sisters, in your trials, if you would shrink back and turn from your confidence in the blood of Jesus, if you would seek earthly, temporary measures to make you feel safe and secure. If you would champion yourself and this world more than Christ, if you wrongly elevate the Old Covenant or wrongly elevate your perceived morality and good works, you will be left wanting. If you walk away from Jesus, there is nowhere else to go. Draw near. Hold fast. Don’t shrink back. Confidence comes from Christ, not your circumstances.

Good news, if you are in Christ, verse 39 is for you. Yes, we feel the pull and temptation to turn and shrink, yes there are some who abandon the Lord, but look what it says… ‘but we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but (rather we are) those who have faith and preserve their souls.’ He will keep you.

You can have confidence right now in struggle. Or as we said:
You can have confidence amid a chaotic world

God is still on the Throne; Jesus is still risen and alive. His blood was the payment, you can be near to the Triune God; Father, Son and Spirit. He will not leave you nor forsake you. As you look out at broken and imperfect people, as you survey evil in us and around us, as the waves lap higher and higher, the pastor offers you a Word that will keep you safe. Remember, Jesus is our anchor and the one who pulls us safely in.

Preaching the gospel to yourself, remember his sacrifice daily. Whether it be your family, friends, or larger community, love them, stir them up, help them continue in God’s ways. And don’t forget, God has kept you in past struggle. Look to Him now, ask God for a fresh vision of Christ, He will keep you fast.

Joel Beeke ‘Meet the Puritans’
“When the Puritans studied at Oxford and Cambridge, the core of university education was the lecture and public disputation. Unlike modern universities, which often stress the importance of breadth rather than depth in reading, medieval and early modern universities in Europe emphasized mastery of a select number of books, as well as the ancient languages of Scripture.” pg. 37

Contrary to my own assumptions, admission into the ancient universities was available to many, regardless of socio-economic background. Scholarships were awarded to the fortunate, most funded their tuition and boarding through a plethora of avenues: parents, church support, work study programs, etc…

Most students arrived between the ages of 13 and 16, with no prerequisite necessary, many came with far different educational backgrounds. A Bachelor of Arts became the base program in which one could seek additional training and specialization afterwards, many Puritans naturally seeking advanced divinity degrees.

Their schedules were less pressed and condensed before the modern opportunities of diverse curricula, standardized examinations, and a focus on securing a career for good money. Often 3 times a day, students would hear lectures and then spend their hours meditating, debating, conversing and chewing.

This allowed for time and space for depth. Sorely lacking despite other educational opportunities today.

_________________________________________

John Calvin ‘Institutes of the Christian Religion’
“How then can the Pelagians gabble on about sin spreading throughout the world through imitation of Adam? Does the grace of Christ benefit us only when it is set before us as an example to follow? Who could endure such blasphemy? If it is certain that Christ’s grace is ours by impartation, and that through it we have life, it follows that both were lost in Adam, just as both are restored to us in Christ; and that sin and death were born in us through Adam, just as they are blotted out through Christ.” pg. 34

Are we born with a sinful nature or do we grow into sins through the nurture and failing examples of those around us? Long settled in Christian tradition is that Adam was the ‘root and stock’ of the human race. When the root is corrupt, from it grows corrupt branches and fruit, and so we are. None of you have taught your infant or toddler to greedily grab and secure for their own comfort and pleasure, it’s all together natural.

Yet, have you heard? As it is in Adam, so true it is in Christ. Imparted to you is a new natural inclination when you trust and follow Him. You can be a living branch with fruit because you are connected to the Vine, the better ‘root and stock’.

Born good? No.
Learned good? Your teachers wish.
Manufactured good? Your production has failed.
Made good? Yes. Cling to Christ, He will change and restore.

Jim Wilson ‘How to be free from bitterness’
“The tongue must be controlled. But until it is, do I have a right to be hurt? Must I remain susceptible to hurt feelings until everyone else is perfect?” pg. 49

A short chapter for those of us who are easily offended and don’t want to stop being offended. It’s essentially a call to ‘toughen up’. A qualifier is added, toughening up is to be like Jesus. The God man who was hurt, yet remained vulnerable, soft hearted, and open to continual hurts.

Our tendency is to champion our rights, I’m hurt so:

1. I’ll never speak to them

2. I’ll never be nice to them

3. I’ll never forgive them

4. I’ll never sacrifice for them

Pointing to the way of Christ, enabled by the Holy Spirit, God’s people follow what is described and commanded in Philippians 2:

1. I won’t grasp onto my identity or rights

2. I’ll empty myself

3. I’ll be a servant

4. I’ll be humble

Release the offense, bring it to God, ask Him for help. The true Christian is empowered to do this as they cling to Jesus and by the change in them they will be able to avoid ‘keeping a record of wrongs’ (1 Cor. 13)

“There is no limit to the Lord’s ability to forgive. Our forgiveness of others must be equally limitless.” pg. 51

Lord help us!