I. A Template for Living in the Promised Land 00:00
Lord, I pray that as we dive into your Scriptures once again, as we come before you on this Sunday morning, you would open our eyes to see, open our ears to hear, and open our hearts to learn and to know what you would have us know this morning. In Jesus’ name, amen.
So we’re going to jump back in with the Israelites. We’re coming closer and closer to the end of this story. I promise you we will get to the promised land. I know they wandered for forty years; it may have felt like the sermon series has gone on for forty years, I don’t know. But we are nearing the conclusion here. We’ve got just a few more stories that we’re going to pull out of Exodus, and then we’re just going to dive in… they retell it in the next three books, so we’ll do all of those. No, I’m just kidding. There’s so much content here. But we’re going to start turning in these stories.
Today we’re going to talk about the law and the covenant, which is a great part to transition. We had the escape from Egypt, where God saved them by his mighty hand, and then we had the journey to Mount Sinai, where the Israelites were being taught again and again that no matter what they encounter, God will show up and provide. And then on Mount Sinai they get the format, the theme, the template for how to live as God’s people, as his treasured possession. So we’re going to wrap that up today, and then we’re going to start moving towards the promised land. Which is very fitting, because, as you know if you’ve been to Starbucks lately, it’s Christmas already. So things are shifting and changing, and we need to get a move on if we’re going to catch up and get to the promised land, which of course we know is Jesus. Jesus is our promised land.
So as we read today, as we look at the laws, as we examine ourselves and think about ways that we haven’t lived up… I don’t know about you, but as I read the Ten Commandments and read about the Ten Commandments, I feel pretty inadequate. Let me say that to start with. But let’s remember that Christmas is coming, that Jesus showed up, and that each of us is made worthy not by our actions but by his. This template is so that you can live in the promised land, not so that you can earn your way to the promised land. Very different. This is the template for how to live in the promised land, not your ticket to get in.
II. That He Might Destroy the Works of the Devil 02:01
Let’s start with our collect this morning:
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
We just read that, and that frames the context of what’s going to be talked about this morning. Why did Jesus come? He came that we might participate, like him, in the eternal, glorious kingdom. He’s not satisfied with who you are now. He loves who you are now. He paid the price for who you are now. But he is taking you to who he has made you to be.
And so, in order to do that, we started here. What did he do? The blessed Son came that he might destroy the works of the devil. All those works of the devil out there, the big bad guys: he came to destroy them. But he also came to destroy all the works of the devil in here. Because where is the devil active? He’s active in the hearts of men. He doesn’t have power to go out and cause train accidents or take over the world like Ultron or Thanos, all these Marvel villains. He’s not showing up and killing people. He’s active in the hearts of men. So when Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, at the very least it means he came to destroy the works of the devil in our own hearts.
III. Not to Abolish but to Fulfill 04:21
Now, as we read through this, the Ten Commandments are the overarching, revelatory declaration of what it means to live like Jesus instead of like fallen man. And Jesus himself affirms this in his most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. Last week we got through the first four commandments, so this week we’ve got six more to go. And they shift. They go from commandments about what you should do to commandments about what you shouldn’t do. Maybe that’s why I’m feeling particularly convicted this morning, thinking about all the things that I shouldn’t do. But we’re going to look to Jesus, who comments on these commandments, to inform what we’re learning this morning. So yes, we’re talking about these Israelites receiving the Ten Commandments, but we’re also going to be looking at how this applies to us, and how Jesus applies it to us today. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 5, beginning in verse 17:
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 5.17–19
So what’s Jesus saying here? You know a little bit of the story of Jesus. He shows up and starts ministry at the age of thirty, and he does all these crazy things that nobody had done before, that nobody had said before. He’s healing the blind, he’s making the lame man walk. But he’s also offending the religious types in Jerusalem, this city that is trying to live for God. They are the inheritors of this tradition from Moses, the Ten Commandments, all of these things. But guess what? He healed somebody on the Sabbath. We think that’s against the law: don’t do any work on the Sabbath. Well, he’s doing a work on the Sabbath.
And so what happened is there were probably (and I know it, because this still happens today) many people who were taking Jesus’ message as, “Yeah, the law doesn’t matter anymore, because I bring something different and new.” When what he’s clarifying here is that by healing somebody on the Sabbath, he is clarifying to us what the Sabbath is for. He wasn’t breaking the law but fulfilling the law. The Sabbath was for our healing, for our restoration, for our moment to go about God’s business, not to legalistically limit our activity. It was a day for the Lord. And there are many of these moments throughout his ministry where the Pharisees say, “Hey, you’re doing this wrong.” Jesus isn’t saying, “Get rid of the law.” He’s saying, “Reinterpret it in light of what I say and do.”
That’s what Jesus does for us for the whole Old Testament. He reinterprets everything in the light of his glory, not changing it but fulfilling it, transfiguring it, just like he was transfigured on the mountain before his disciples. And so even today you have people saying, “Well, Jesus came, so I don’t have to listen to all that law stuff, all that judgment talk.” And Jesus says, “No, no, no. You didn’t understand the law in the first place. If you thought the law was to limit your joy, to curb your enthusiasm, to take away life from you, then you got it wrong from the beginning. I came to show you that the law was actually to give you life, and life abundantly.”
Not that we submit ourselves to circumcision or any of these ritualistic means of being set apart in the old covenant. There’s a whole book of literature about certain rules. I eat bacon. They didn’t eat bacon in the Old Testament. That’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about the Ten Commandments, God’s rules for how to live your life, period. Not culturally specific, not bound to some covenant with Israel, but the rules that came down from heaven for how to live the kingdom life. So, without getting into the nooks and crannies of Scripture to figure out which commands apply, the point is: when God tells you to do something, it’s for your life, and life abundantly, that he might destroy the works of the devil in your heart.
And so when we look at these things and we hear all these “thou shalt nots,” instead of thinking, “Man, I hate to be a part of a rule society where I’m so limited in my freedoms,” let’s think about the fact that “thou shalt not” means that thou shalt have life, and life eternal. When we avoid the things that are death to us, we get life.
It’s like a plant. My wife really loves raising plants. Thank God, because otherwise every plant in our house would be dead. I have no care whatsoever for raising plants. But there’s this tree, and it had this little speck of fungus that got on it, and immediately she’s like, “We’ve got to get that taken care of. We can’t have that getting on our trees. It’s going to get on the other plants.” Why did she care? It was just on one leaf. Well, it’s the same thing Jesus is getting at. If you violate even the least of the commandments, it’s like that fungus that’s just on the one leaf. It’s going to infect the entire plant, and in fact it’ll infect all the plants around it. That’s what sin is in our life.
He says you don’t get to give up: “Oh, don’t worry, I don’t murder anybody, so it’s okay for me to take the Lord’s name in vain.” Or, “I don’t steal, so I’m really good. I’m generous, even. So it’s okay for me to do all these, A, B, and C.” Or, “I have a right to my anger.” Whatever it is, that pet sin, those things that you have in you that you write off as, “Well, it’s not that big of a deal.” Jesus is not trying to be harsh when he says not one iota, not one little bit, of the law will be abolished. He’s trying to remind you that every time you break the law, you’re inviting infection and disease into your life that could kill you.
Imagine if you walked into a doctor and your toe was infected, and you said, “Don’t worry, it’s just a toe.” That’s not how infections work. It’s just not. You’re going to lose a foot, a leg, your life. And so when you look at the law, when you look at how we’re told to live as Christians throughout the entire Bible, let’s not ignore the little things. They can kill you too. That’s what Jesus is saying.
God is not satisfied with your best version of yourself. We all have a picture of what the best version of myself would be. God is not even looking for that. He’s looking for a whole different picture. And absolutely he wants to bring you on that journey, so that eventually, someday, you will be dreaming of the same image when you think of the best version of yourself. He wants to teach us what it looks like to be who he’s called us to be.
IV. You Shall Not Murder 12:15
So we come back to the Ten Commandments, and we’re just going to comment on some of these and see how they weave into this idea of destroying the works of the devil in our heart, leading us into life and life eternal, making us a promised-land people. So we get to the big one to start off our “thou shalt nots”:
13 “You shall not murder.” Exod 20.13
And everyone in the room breathes a sigh of relief: “I have not murdered.” Not recently, anyway. No, I’m just kidding. But most of us think, “Wow, I’ve never wrongfully taken a life, so I can cruise by the ‘thou shalt not murder’ commandment.” Well, Jesus swoops in, in the same passage we just started, in chapter 5, beginning in verse 21, and he says:
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” Matt 5.21–22
Pretty harsh. I myself count as a murderer according to that definition, believe it or not. I think all of us, if we’re honest, are condemned under that definition of what it means to be a murderer. So what’s going on here? Is Jesus just out of touch with reality, with humanity? Are we all called to be judged for our moments of anger, our rage at those incompetent fools we’re surrounded with? What is Jesus trying to say?
Jesus knows that anger is a poison to our souls. And he’s not, as I just mentioned, satisfied with the big sins in our life. Like a doctor, he will relentlessly cut out every bit of that cancerous sin in our life until we can truly live the life he’s called us to live.
What does that mean for us when we get angry? Well, it means the same thing as for any of our sins. We are forgiven. We have grace. God has come that we might not be condemned for our sins. But it also means we’ve got work to do. God has more for you. Every time you encounter a sin you haven’t overcome, instead of beating yourself up, what if you said, “What does God have for me on the other side of this sin?” Because that’s how he thinks. That’s how he writes our life. He writes our life with eternity in mind. He knows it takes more than sixty to a hundred years to fix you. He has so much more in store for us than we can even imagine, and we go to him whining because he won’t let us continue to play our silly games that infect us and everyone around us.
But the point here, again, is not to say, “You wicked sinner.” The point is to say, “Come with me.” Jesus is reaching out: “Take my burden upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11.29–30). You don’t even know what burden you’re carrying. When you sin, you’re stacking up things on your back and in your package that he already paid for. Lay them down. Lay them at the foot of the cross. Forgive one another.
V. You Shall Not Commit Adultery 15:48
It gets better. We’re going to keep going down this list. Now we’re going to talk about this one:
14 “You shall not commit adultery.” Exod 20.14
And Jesus follows up his commentary on “thou shalt not murder” with a commentary on this verse, when he says in Matthew 5:27:
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matt 5.27–28
Jesus has not given us any room to get away from his message this morning. And let me just be very clear: he also means any woman who has looked at a man with lustful intent in her heart is guilty of the same sin.
I’ll just say one thing on this, because we could go down the rabbit hole. This is absolutely one of the chief ways that the enemy, in our culture, is looking to snag and snare us in sin. It’s everywhere. You can’t drive from here to LAX without seeing basically naked women all over the place. And that’s not new. Now it’s all in your pocket, on your phone. You have access like nobody in history to participate, to worship the god of adultery instead of the Lord your God.
This is the constant problem with the people of God. In fact, Israel is called an adulteress by God throughout the Old Testament. Because what’s at the heart of adultery? Well, in this case, with Israel, they’ve taken their eyes off of that which is good, that which is true, that which is beautiful, the only wise God, and they’ve looked to other places for their salvation, for their pleasure, for their fulfillment, for their life. In the same way, a man or a woman looks outside of their spouse for that pleasure, that fulfillment, that life that only should come from your spouse.
What’s the problem with adultery? It’s not just that you look somewhere else. It’s that you turned away from that which you have been given. God created matrimony so that you might have life abundantly with your spouse, and not only that, but so that you could create a place of life abundantly for your family. And when you look away from that… I’m emphasizing the look-away part, because yes, there are enticing things out there. I get it. There are beautiful women, beautiful men, whatever it is; there are enticing things. But the sin starts when you look away from that which God has given you. Fall deeper in love with your spouse, and lust won’t be as hard of an issue.
Now, I don’t want to go too far on this, because I don’t want to get psychological. I’m just trying to teach the biblical principles. I understand that people fall all the time, and it causes such great tragedy. But I want you to know that the key here is not “don’t do this.” It’s “do this.” Let me clarify. The key here is not “don’t look at women, don’t look at men, don’t do this, that, or the other thing.” The key here is: love your wife, love your husband, love God first. You’re not married? Guess what: all of that devotion you owe to your spouse, give it to him. Because ultimately, that’s what our devotion to our spouse is about. It’s about loving God well.
I could go on and on, but the point here is that Jesus himself categorized the church, us, as his bride, and his job right now, from now to eternity, is to make us his beautiful bride. Now, I did see a funny meme the other day. It had this muscular guy all dressed up in wedding clothes, and it was like, “The man in the seat when he hears that we’re the beautiful bride of Christ,” and he’s got this idiotic smile on his face. I understand it’s a little funky to think that way. But the point is very clear: we are meant to be joined with God in everlasting joy and marriage covenant and communion.
And every time you look away from that, every time you serve whatever idol you have, what you can always remember is that he doesn’t ever look away. He is always facing you, pulling you from glory to glory, molding you, teaching you, shaping you. Your faithfulness does not determine his. And so if you’re feeling condemned at all this morning, remember that his faithfulness doesn’t care how unfaithful you are. It is the same. And he’s always inviting you to that next level of holiness, set-apartness, beauty, maturity, grace.
VI. You Shall Not Steal 20:32
And so we get to this commandment:
15 “You shall not steal.” Exod 20.15
And then we breathe the sigh of relief. We’re like, “Man, murder and adultery were hard. Now we’re on just stealing. I get it.” But there’s a problem here. You know what stealing is all about? A poverty mentality. You don’t believe that God wants what’s best for you. You think you have to go get it from someone else or something else. What is stealing about? Stealing is, “If I don’t take this, then I go hungry,” or, “I don’t get my needs met,” or, “I deserve this.”
It reminded me of the Prodigal Son story. The great tragedy of the Prodigal Son story is not that the first son strayed away. When he came back, the prodigal son, the father welcomed him with open arms and celebrated him by killing the fatted calf, placing a ring on his finger, all of these things. He threw a big party. And the older son was angry. What did the older son say? He said, “Father, you never threw a party for me or killed the fattened calf, invited my friends over.” This is the older son who’s been with the father the whole time, and the prodigal is here, they’re throwing a party, and he’s jealous. And what does the father say? “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours” (Luke 15.31).
How often do we go out of our way to try and provide for ourselves, when the Father’s sitting there saying, “Son, daughter, you’re always with me. All that I have is yours”? And what does our Father have? More than we could ever need, that’s for darn sure. Everything. And it says he will give us all things: how much more shall my Father give you all things?
Stealing: if you find yourself cheating on your taxes, if you find yourself stealing a little bit from your company, or whatever form that might take for you, ask yourself, “Why don’t I trust God to provide for me?” Because he will. And if you don’t have it, it means you don’t need it. God will give you everything you need by his riches in glory (Phil 4.19).
Now, it may be just around the corner. There are plenty of people who have even died for our faith. Did they need oxygen when they crucified our Lord? Yeah, he needed oxygen, and God let him not have that, because there’s always a bigger story. So if you don’t see the solution or the provision, and you experience death in your life, remember that our God’s a God of resurrection. So maybe your company goes under and you say, “God, where were you? I needed this.” And maybe he’s saying, “I’ve got more for you.” Ultimately, we know that all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.
VII. You Shall Not Bear False Witness 22:53
Okay, let’s get through these last couple here.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exod 20.16
Now, when I looked at the commentaries, most of them focused on, “Hey, guess what? You don’t get to lie.” We’re not talking about just a situation where you bring forward a person and you say this, or you talk to somebody, “That person did that bad thing,” and you’re lying about them. No, no, no. This is a prohibition against lying in general. Did you know there’s not a lie you can tell that doesn’t have some element where it’s against your neighbor? Because, you know what, Jesus came and said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14.6). And if you violate truth, you’re like that diseased plant. Not only that, but you’re trying to warp reality to fit your needs. You’re saying, “Reality is this way, but I say it’s this way,” and you think that you’re going to get away with that. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” And then Psalm 5:6 says:
6 You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. Ps 5.6
Ultimately, what’s the problem with lying? It blinds you to reality. You’re not using lies like a tool to get what you want. That’s not how we’re built. When you lie, it changes your ability to see what is real.
I’ve got to keep moving through this, but let me just say quickly that there’s nothing true that you can speak that is worse than the lies that we tell. It is always better to speak the truth. Now, that doesn’t mean that I need to tell Rowan about that trick-or-treat candy that I ate. Or maybe it does. No, that was a joke. The point I really want to make is that it doesn’t mean you walk around telling everybody everything, your deepest, darkest secrets. I’ve met people like that, and trust me, there’s a lie embedded in that process too. There’s something about wisdom and discernment, where we don’t have to tell everybody everything all the time.
But yeah, if your boss asks you what you were doing and you lie about it because you don’t want them to know… I’m not going to use any of my examples, because my boss is in the room. But I’m just saying, if you lie to your boss about something and you think you’re getting away with it, how much is your integrity worth? Getting away with that five-minute thing, or that little deal, or whatever? Come on. Let’s be true. Let’s be like Jesus, the truth.
VIII. You Shall Not Covet 26:04
Okay, last one here:
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.” Exod 20.17
And I love this about the Bible, because every one of us is thinking, “I don’t covet my neighbor’s donkey one bit.” And I probably won’t, even if he gets a donkey. There are some parts here where we’ve got to transpose this to the modern era. But I do think that this one, more than any other, more than even the adultery problem, is endemic in our culture. This is just accepted practice. “Look at those people.” They put them on TV, they put them on social media, they put them everywhere. “Don’t you want to be like them? Don’t you want to have what they have?” Instagram, basically all social media, are temples to the gods of covetousness. “Look at how cool those people are. Look at that shirt they’re wearing. Look at that drink they’re drinking. Look at that place they’re at.”
Man, it’s such a lie. Because, you know what, there is no person who does not have their fair share of grief and joy in their life. And you may covet their joy, but you don’t get to have their joy without their grief, and vice versa. Jealousy renders a 2D image of the person that you’re looking at. You only see the shallowest of depths. You miss the reality of that person’s life. And so let’s not fall into this lie. You’re not going to be happier if you have your neighbor’s things or your neighbor’s life.
You get what you get by the goodness of God, not by some arbitrary judge, not by some fate of chance, not even by your effort. Absolutely, you can change your life by turning towards him, but it’s always by his grace that you achieve anything. That’s why we can rely on his strength when we are weak. That’s why he’s strong in us when we are weak. Thank God.
Because, man, if you get on that covetousness train, you know what it looks like? It looks like the people who try to run their entire life towards a goal that doesn’t exist. They take a diet plan, they get that new job, they buy that car, they buy that house, they marry that woman. They do all these things to try and get to the place where they think they should be, and they show up and it’s empty, and they’ve lost their soul along the way. Now, maybe you aren’t tempted to change your entire life to look like these other people. But every day you have that choice to look and to covet after somebody else’s things, and over time that bends the way you see the world.
There are two ways that we can remind ourselves that covetousness is a lie. The first is: you think you want what they have, you think you want their life. You don’t. You really don’t. Now, there are people who have really nice computers or microphones. I like that type of stuff, and sometimes I can get one of those, and hopefully further the kingdom of God through that. I’m not saying the physical thing that they have that you want is bad. It’s okay to watch somebody and say, “What’s the best possible pocketknife?” And you look at the review, and you’re like, “Wow, those are all so cool,” and you get excited, you get a pocketknife, and it fulfills whatever function you want it to fill. That’s not what I’m talking about. But I think you know that.
What we covet is the idea of joy that they must have, the idea of fulfillment that they must have as they get into that BMW or that Ferrari. There’s an idea behind covetousness that isn’t about the thing, and we all know that. It’s like that old-fashioned in that nice glass with that really nice whiskey isn’t what I’m craving right now. What I’m craving is this idea of this fulfilled life that you build in your head as you put all these images together. And we have to know that that’s a lie. Let’s build our image of our life with God involved. Let’s dream with him, because he wants you to have the good things. And ultimately, what you’re doing is focusing on what you don’t have.
So what’s the real solution to covetousness? The solution is to love your life. But how do you love your life? I don’t know about you, but I fail frequently. How do I love my life? Well, it starts with loving him. And as you love him, your eyes are opened. As you thank him for the things he does in your life… I mean, gratitude: you can’t be grateful and jealous at the same moment. Try it. It doesn’t work. One replaces the other. And so as you love him, he opens your eyes to what your life really is. We’re promised that he has given us all things, that he’s a good Father.
IX. Jesus Fulfilled Every Commandment 30:19
And so, just like all these other commandments, what’s underneath them all? You don’t trust what God has given you. In fact, even in your anger: why are you angry at other people? “Because they’re going to get in my way. They’re going to ruin my day. They’re going to do this, that, or the other thing.” Well, if God is the one who matters, then guess what? I don’t need to have a personal grudge against anybody. God is paving the way. God’s leading my life. And you could go down all of them. If you’re stealing, well, guess what? God has more for you than you could ever steal.
And we’re going to end today by thinking about this: where is Jesus in this sermon? Well, Jesus was the one who came and fulfilled all the commandments. In fact, for the “thou shalt nots,” it’s kind of fun to think about how he reversed every one of them. “Thou shalt not murder”: well, he came and died at a murderer’s hand that you could have life. That’s about as opposite of murder as there could possibly be. In fact, that is the opposite of murder.
“Thou shalt not commit adultery”: well, he, to this day, is so committed to you that no matter what you do, think, or say, he will complete the good work that he’s begun in you (Phil 1.6). He is faithful to his bride, the church.
“Thou shalt not steal”: well, he came to be the giver of all good things.
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor”: well, he is the truth. And not only that, he is the truth who, when he stands as witness for us, justifies us, unlike bearing false witness, which condemns.
And lastly, “Thou shalt not covet.” I mean, God so… he literally gave us every single thing. And Jesus does not covet anything we have, but instead shares out his belongings eternally, invites us into his family, invites us to participate and be heirs in his kingdom.
So today, as we think about all the ways we could improve, let us worship God and thank him for all the ways that he has already led the way for us. Let’s rely on his strength, because I know myself (I’m assuming you guys aren’t that much different): I just can’t do it by myself. I have to rely on his strength in me. Amen.