Abounding Grace

Guest (Male): Deeper directions for the future coming up on Abounding Grace. Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado invites you to join us for the next half hour for Abounding Grace. We are currently enjoying a verse-by-verse study through the book of Exodus. Today, we'll take a look at chapter 19.

Throughout the Old Testament, we find quite a number of laws from God, which may leave you wondering how does this apply to me today? Stick around. That's one of the many questions we'll set out to answer with Pastor Ed Taylor.

Pastor Ed Taylor: So notice verse 7. Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before them these words which the Lord commanded him in verse 8. Then all the people answered together and said, "All that the Lord has spoken, we will do." So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.

That's an interesting response, isn't it? Everything that you've said, we will do it. A great response, even though they haven't heard everything the Lord has said. That's chapter 20. That's just the beginning in chapter 20, actually, the chapter containing what we commonly refer to as the Ten Commandments. They haven't even heard them yet.

But there is an eagerness. I have to commend them. There's an eagerness. And as we read forward, all the commands, did they keep them? Yes or no, church? No. Nobody can keep them. But their heart was right. When you think of the law, I want you to remember that the law cannot change you on the inside.

The law is not how God saves a person, some external list of rules and regulations. The law only reveals the sinfulness of man. And the area that is always, always comes to mind here is the black and white sign on the right side of the road when you are driving by it. It has numbers on it. Did you know that?

It has numbers that are intended to correspond with the numbers on your speedometer. It's the speed limit sign. And the speed limit sign that says, say, 25, and your car says 45, and the police say go to the side. But your number on your speedometer does not match the number on the speed limit sign, and so what does the speed limit? What does the law do in that moment? The law reveals to you, you sinner, you're speeding.

The sign can't come down and chase you, jump in the car, knock you out of the driver's seat, put on the brakes so that you can go slow in that school zone. The sign has no power to change your behavior. The sign only reveals, if you want to use biblical language, the righteous standard for that street.

That's the right standard. Someone has declared as they've studied the traffic patterns or especially in a school zone, that kids could be running out into the street. Things can happen with the children. There's a lot more children in this area, so because of that, the right standard for your car that's a few thousand pounds compared to a child is slow down to this number. But it can't change you.

You can respond to it, but it can't change you. It has no power to change you. It just reveals your guilt. If you don't believe me, pay attention. Pay attention in the near future, just this week, and email me if it's not true. I challenge you because when you see that and you notice that and you kind of feel like maybe there's an officer and you take your foot off of the accelerator, why do you do that?

If you're fine and you're doing everything right and everything's perfect on that street and you're driving, why do you immediately and some might even touch the brake? Hey, let me tell you something. If the number on the sign doesn't match the number on your speedometer and you see a police officer, it's already too late because they've got a laser on you. They caught you way down the road.

And they now, the police, will do what? They will enforce the righteous standard. Not even the police can change your behavior. They can only enforce it, give you a ticket, tell you to if you're going fast enough, tell you to go to court where then the judge will give you a righteous judgment. But no change has taken place yet.

They can throw you in jail, make you take classes. The change still has to be internal. You have to change your mind and your heart about such matters. It's the same thing with the Bible. The law of God is only a revelation of God's righteous standard, but it doesn't change you. In Galatians chapter 3, we'll be studying it soon, but in verse 24 it says, "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might then be justified by faith."

But after faith has come, we are no longer a tutor. If you guys have never studied such things, being newer to the church or maybe newer to a church that teaches through the Bible, then you need to stick around when we get to Galatians. I will lay it all out for us, understanding grace, faith, and the law, and even the legalism that is so prevalent today in the church.

The legalism that is so attractive. It is attractive. For some listening to me, some in this room right now, it is attractive to you. You may even say, "Ed, would you just give me a list of the 10 things I should do this week and I'll keep the list. Just 10, just give me 10." But what if your problem's a hundred? And that's the point. That's why you're asking for 10.

Because you know you have no power over the 10 or the 90. We have such a desire to follow a standard instead of following God by faith. Because even if you thought you followed all 10 and God was able to, you go up to God, "Here I am, I brought all 10," and then God says, "Well, I want you to know you failed on nine and a half of them." What?

It would be very discouraging because you're living by a standard that's something other than the righteousness of Christ. So we're going to go into depth of that in when we get to Galatians early next year. Verse 9, "The Lord said to Moses, 'Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe you forever.'"

So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. Let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down from Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, 'Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.'"

And it's at times like these where people will come to the Bible and say, "That's not fair. Why is that the case? Why? Why would they if they touch the mountain, why would they die?" And here's your very easy answer for that. You don't need to be intimidated by a question that is asked that way.

And you can say very kindly, don't be sarcastic, just say it very easily. Why would they die if they touched the mountain? You ready? Because God said so. Not only did He say so, He warned them not to do it. Well, it's not fair. Well, how do you define fairness? Who defines fairness starting with themselves? Mostly all of us.

But true fairness is found only in God, not in ourselves. And that's why vengeance and everything so stirs up because when we've been wronged, we're striving after something we think is fair, but it's actually not fair, it's vengeance. Because you'll never experience fairness this side of eternity. Never. It'll never be available to us.

We might experience forgiveness and we might experience reconciliation and we might experience healing, but not fairness. Because once and for all, Jesus Christ died an innocent death so that by His blood your sins, which are an unfair action toward God, have been forever forgiven by faith in Him. And from this day forward, you can walk in a life that isn't fair toward Christ.

He exchanged His perfect life for your imperfect life. And so don't think, and don't think for a moment that getting vengeance will make you happy. It will hurt you deeply on top of the hurt you're trying to deal with already. You just got to trust the Lord. What did God say? "Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord."

And so He tells them in verse 9, get the people ready. I want to speak to you. Moses told the words to the people. He says in verse 10, sanctify them. Have them wash their clothes and be ready, symbolizing a cleansing of the heart and the mind, symbolizing purity and holiness, symbolizing this sense that this is going to be a special day.

Even in our own lives, I think things require a special preparation, a special readiness in our lives, a consecration, a preparation. And then He says on the third day, the Lord will come down and you're going to have to set some bounds. Don't come near the mountain. Don't touch the mountain. Verse 13, "Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow. Whether man or beast, he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain."

Then Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people. They washed their clothes and He said to the people, "Be ready for the third day. Do not come near your wives." So there's strict guidelines, a pattern that God is going to give. He's going to give guidelines for life, guidelines for this moment, this time period.

And I thought it was interesting, it says in verse 13 that the trumpet sounds long. Now in the Hebrew, the trumpet is known as the shofar. And we're not going to develop it, but if you want to study this, a fascinating study of how God uses the shofar throughout the Old Testament. So again, if you want to take notes, you can look this up, do a study yourself, just look at the various ways that a trumpet is used by God.

But in Numbers chapter 10, a trumpet was used to sound an alarm for war. In Joshua chapter 6, a trumpet was sounded as the walls came crashing down. In Judges chapter 6, Gideon gathers an army of support through the blowing of a shofar. In Leviticus 25, the shofar sounded the Day of Atonement.

In Ezra chapter 3, at the laying of the foundation of the temple, the shofar was sounded. In Leviticus chapter 23, at the feast of trumpets. First Corinthians chapter 15, at the Rapture of the church. And occasionally we have people coming through that want to get up here and during the middle of a Bible study sound the shofar, to which we say a no.

Go out in the parking lot and sound it all you would like, but not around the building. We don't want the walls to fall down. But there's always somebody that brings a tambourine and a shofar to church. Parking lot. We play the service out there and you can go along out there, but not in here. "Yeah, but my tambourine looks like the Holy Spirit." No, it's a tambourine.

You guys never seen that before? You never stand next to somebody who was playing a tambourine? We had, anyway. Let's come back to the scriptures. I've got stories to tell, but not from here. Verse 16, "Then it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of the shofar was very loud so that all the people who were in the camp trembled."

And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And then the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder and Moses spoke and God answered him by voice.

Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, verse 20, on the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up. And the Lord said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people lest they break through to gaze at the Lord and many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near the Lord sanctify themselves lest the Lord break out against them."

And Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, 'Set bounds around the mountain and sanctify it.'" And the Lord said to him, "Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them."

So Moses went down to the people and he spoke to them. Now this is a supernatural sight, an awesome sight where they the children of Israel through their present experiences are ready for this. It didn't happen the first day they came out. It didn't happen the second day. They are here at just the appointed time, the right season.

And Moses the leader obeyed. He had to do it. But he also wanted to do it. And then this warning, like don't cross the line, because there are always those that are curious, the rebellious ones. There are always those among us where it says don't walk on the grass and you walk on it. And don't touch the wet paint and you just want to make sure if it's wet or not.

There are always those that God is dealing with. Most are not going to. They're going to be in awe. They're going to be amazed. They're going to be in anticipation, but there are always those and God says, "I don't want to judge them. Tell them, Moses. Tell them." God's instructions for you and for me are for our good. They're for your good.

It is the absolute opposite of what our culture teaches. And those of you that have been educated in this culture, live in this culture, saturated with the information and the media of this culture from a very young age, you have to understand this. This is the difficulty. It's not a society we live in that likes limitations on our own personal behavior.

"This is a free country." How many times have you heard that? "This is a free country, so I can do what I want." Both of those statements, they misunderstand what free and doing what I want. How about when it comes to sexual sin? As long as we're two consenting adults. As long as we're two consenting adults, we can do whatever we want.

Or even that comes into the church. "Well, we're two consenting Christian adults." Yeah, but what's the Bible have to say about it? Well, it doesn't matter what the Bible has to say about it. "We're free. It's a free country. I can do whatever I want. You can't tell me what to do." Or more common, more popular, "Don't judge me, brother."

You can almost always be sure that you touched a nerve on the topic of sin in someone's life when they respond that way because you can't live life without making judgments. What Jesus was preventing us and warning us and saying that we weren't to do is to make hypocritical, sinful judgments so that if you're sleeping with your girlfriend and you're judging someone else that's sleeping with their girlfriend, don't do that.

Don't judge and then stop living in sexual sin. That's what He means. And you can say that just about any other sin that exists. But you see the Lord says that He gives the warning so that the people wouldn't perish. Wouldn't perish. Wouldn't perish. Why do you avoid sexual sin? Because it brings consequences.

It brings condemnation. It brings dishonesty. It brings disease. It brings, and in my case, I became a teenage dad that changed the whole trajectory of my life. Avoid sexual sin because it brings pain. Your Christian walk will be destroyed. Your communion with Jesus will disappear. Why should you quit lying?

Lying breaks friendships and relationships. It erodes trust. But why should we quit lying so we wouldn't perish? The wages of sin is death. And we experience death in so many ways with each other. It's not a judgment here that God is giving to His people, it's a warning. Don't go that way. Don't come near. Don't peak.

It's good for you. The judgment only comes after the disobedience, not before. It's not judgment when you're warned. It's judgment and in the case of believers, consequences after you sin. God says just don't do it, trust me. And it's really what it amounts to, right? Just trust me. This isn't good for you.

Sometimes when we're ministering and we have discipleship, you know, what people call biblical counseling, I like to call biblical discipleship and we're talking about an issue and we're spending so much time just trying to convince you that this is what the Bible says. It really is a fruitful argument. And sometimes it's even fruitless where we're just like constantly, constantly like this is what the Bible says.

"I don't believe that." Well, I mean, I don't know what you believe, but this is what the Bible says. "Well, you know, I don't agree with that." Yeah, I don't know what you agree with it but like you wouldn't have an issue with it if you didn't do it. And now that you are, you're on the other side of obedience, on the other side of faith. Do you know you can't sin in faith?

I can't sin in faith. And without faith, it's impossible to please God. And it's just a warning from the Lord to all of us. He wants our best. Just like any dad or mom or grandma or grandpa for their kids, He just wants our best. Just pay attention, listen to Him, heed Him. "Don't touch that mountain. I'm going to touch. Don't do it. I just want to peek, I want to see what Moses."

No, it's not for you. "Well, I want it to be for me." No, no, it's not for you. Just trust the Lord. He knows what He's doing. And so this very solemn time, this appeal to consecration as He says in verse 23, "Set bounds, sanctify it." Go down and then come back up is the desire of God for all of us.

A very solemn time, a new standard of life. Brand new nation, brand new land, brand new life. No longer do they listen to their masters. No longer are they paying attention to the morning bell and the evening bell. No longer are they being whipped. No longer are they being beaten. No longer are they working their fingers to the bone. They're living a brand new life here, but in their brand new life they have a brand new set of standards. Brand new set of standards.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Pastor Ed Taylor on Abounding Grace. He'll be right back with more from Exodus chapter 19, and we'll seek to answer this question: what does the Old Testament law have to do with me today?

You can hear this message again online at aboundinggraceradio.com or listen through our app. Search for Ed Taylor in the App Store or Google Play. Well, maybe you're looking for a good book to go through. Here in the month of March, we've picked out an excellent one written by Tim LaHaye and Bob Phillips. It's titled Anger Is a Choice, and it provides counsel and exercises to help us better understand the causes of anger, how to control it, and how lack of control affects us physically and spiritually.

We'll send you a copy when you support Abounding Grace with a gift of $25 or more. Just call, ask for Anger Is a Choice. Our number is 877-30-GRACE. That's 877-30-GRACE. You can also order online at calvaryco.store.

Abounding Grace is made possible through the generous support of our listeners. And as we continue to deliver God's word one verse at a time, we're looking to our listeners for help. Together, we can reach people with the love and truth of Christ and make a difference in these last days. To make a secure donation, drop by aboundinggraceradio.com or call 877-30-GRACE. Let's return now to Pastor Ed.

Pastor Ed Taylor: So before we leave here today, I want to ask and answer this question for you. If you're taking notes, this is a very common question that is very easy to answer. Another one that I want to help you, and that's this: what does the Old Testament law have to do with me today? Why do I need to be concerned about the Old Testament?

First and foremost, the entire Bible's inspired by God. It's profitable. All of it, beginning to end. Even if you don't immediately experience it, it is, it's profitable. God said so, and you will learn that lesson. But secondly, it's a standard. It's a righteous standard of God. It's a revelation of God's righteous standard, a guide to live by, a set of foundational principles that we'll see.

Just the top 10 are so important. So let me give you a few things. Number one, God's law. God's law reveals God's love for His people. God's law reveals God's love for His people. It's not negative, but profoundly positive and protective. The law becomes a series of guidelines designed to lovingly protect the nation as they move forward.

Number two, the law helps keep our love on track. The law helps keep our love on track toward God. We know that we're not saved by the law, we're saved by grace through faith. Yet our obedience is a wonderful and easy way to display our love toward God. "If you love Me," Jesus taught us in the new covenant, what? "Keep My commandments." They're not burdensome. They're not a heavy ritual or a list, but rather a way to display our love.

Number three, this is important. The law restrains evil. Can you imagine? I don't want you to imagine for real, but can you imagine how much evil has not come through your life because you chose to obey God? I mean, I don't even want to know. I'm just grateful that I can follow the Lord and that there's less evil in my life.

And maybe you're not comfortable with the word evil, that's fine. There's less bad things, less bad words, less bad thoughts, less bad actions because of God's revelation. We'll begin a new study of the Ten Commandments next time on Abounding Grace when Pastor Ed Taylor enters Exodus chapter 20. Read ahead and join us next week.

Guest (Male): Abounding Grace is brought to you by Calvary Church Colorado here in Aurora.