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Guest (Male): If you had been at that beautiful, sweet little sermon on the mount, I am telling you, you would have been crushed. You would have said, "I came to get some comfort, I came to get some assurance, I thought you were going to undo the law." And Jesus said, "I didn't come to abolish the law, I came to fulfill it and not one jot or tittle of the law shall change until the kingdom of God comes."

Guest (Male): So glad you joined us for today's Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell. In today's episode, Pastor Bryan shares the second half of a lesson from Exodus chapter 20. Dr. Chapell highlights God's rules and rescue provided in our study of the Ten Commandments.

You can find this lesson and many others when you visit unlimitedgrace.com. And while you're there, look for this wonderful resource from Dr. Chapell, Holiness by Grace. In this book, Pastor Bryan will guide you through reassuring scripture passages to discover how works and obedience are not a means of establishing or maintaining salvation, but a grateful response to God's mercy. Let's hear now from Dr. Bryan Chapell as he shares the second half of the lesson, Roadsigns to Jesus.

Bryan Chapell: So let me ask that you would look in your Bibles at Exodus chapter 20. There is not a more profound passage in all the scripture describing God's rules and rescue. Exodus chapter 20, the Ten Commandments, would you stand as we honor God's word? I'll begin right at the beginning of Exodus chapter 20.

And God spoke all these words saying, "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me." That is the first command. There are nine more coming, and we'll get to them. But for now, let your eyes go to the end of the chapter and see where the other bookend is of what God is teaching.

Verse 22. After the Ten Commandments, the Lord said to Moses, "Thus shall you say to the people of Israel: you have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.

If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you would wield your tool on it, you profane it. And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it." Let's pray together. Father, for your word we thank you, but there is no question in our hearts that this same word that guides us in your ways has led many astray. Help us to not be crushed by the commands but use them as road signs to take us to our Savior. This we ask in Jesus' name, Amen. Please be seated.

Commandment number five, move to that second table of the law. Honor your father and mother, verse 12. The first commandment with a promise that your days may be long upon the earth. Now what does that mean? Obedient children never get sick? Obedient children never have accidents? Is that what that means? No, think of it. Here is Moses getting from God the commands that will be given to the whole nation.

And he's saying, honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land, that the covenant promises of God may extend through your nation. And even Moses begins to recognize and speaks for God saying, look at the consequences to the nation, how little longevity there will be for the rule of God in the land if children do not honor their parents. Do we know that is true?

In a nation where half of our children do not know both their biological parents in the house? Where children not only do not always honor father and mother, they could not do it? And we look at the reverberations through our society and recognize as Brian Livingston, our elder, prayed during the service earlier, the devastation upon a land that does not know the Lord. Honoring father and mother has repercussions that we should understand.

The sixth command: you shall not murder. That's verse 13. And I know we can all think, "Whew, well there's one that does not apply to me." At least I hope most of you think it does not apply to you. Actually, does it apply to us? Jesus will explain it a little bit later, we'll see, in a way that does apply to us. Why not murder? Because every human being is made in the image of God.

And as a result of being made in God's image, holy unto him. Special needs, senior, unborn—made in the image of God. And life is honorable to God. And so he says to us, to our society and to all, do not murder because life is precious. And we must consider what that means in how we deal with other people in protecting, defending them, their livelihood, their future, their families—our calling as God's people.

Seventh commandment, verse 14. You shall not commit adultery. No commandment receives more challenge or consensus in our culture. The challenge we all know: you shall not commit adultery. Oh, there's those antiquated Christians again with their prudish standards that you're only supposed to have sexual expression within the bounds of a marriage between a man and a woman.

The consensus is almost everyone, not everyone, almost everyone in this culture believes that if you are married, you should be faithful to your spouse. Look at the news. Look at who's being attacked, look at who's being made fun of: people who are married who have sexual relationships outside of marriage. Now you think, why is that?

Because if what the cultural challenge is, which why limit sexual expression? It's just kind of chemicals and biology and feels pleasant. I mean, why limit it? Then why object to it if someone who is married expresses their sexuality outside of marriage? Something deep in us knows that to give your body to another person is not just something physical, it is emotional, it is spiritual.

As even the Apostle Paul says, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It's not something to unite to somebody who will allow you to profane what God... I can't explain to you entirely what it's about, but deep down we know it. If it's wrong for married people to have sexual relationships outside of marriage, then it was God speaking to young people, to older people who are not in a marriage at the moment to say, "But I'm protecting you and your soul and your relationship and your future. Count it joy, count it pure what God is preserving for your future."

And as a consequence of understanding that purity, that relationship that God intends for intimacy in a marriage relationship, God is saying to every single one of us, the culture may just ridicule you for some sense of the importance of sexual purity. But God is saying, "I support you. You are doing something that is profoundly holy and good and for that reason protect what God intends to also use to protect your own future as his family, as his people, as a married person that he is making."

Eighth commandment, verse 15. You shall not steal. Such a short commandment with such huge implications. You shall not steal. Well, that ought to be easy unless you're talking to WorldCom or Lehman Brothers or Volkswagen or Napster or Lance Armstrong or Martha Stewart or every single one of us who has pirated a software or music download of some sort.

God is saying something quite simple. If it's not yours, do not take it. If it's not yours, do not take it. Even if it is someone else's reputation. We sometimes want to take gossip and put it under the ninth commandment. Most commentators put gossip under the eighth. If you are stealing somebody's reputation by idle talk, by just letting their reputation be ruined by what you... you are stealing from them.

We've commended the church here about its giving, but recognize what will the New Testament say? Those who are not supporting the work of the gospel are robbing whom? God. It's recognizing what is ours to give is to be given. We cannot take, however, what God never intended us to have. That, in whatever form we do it, is stealing.

The ninth commandment, verse 16. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. False witness or fake news. You know, we can snicker, and I meant to make you snicker a little bit, but recognize what's happening in this nation right now. What is happening? We are roiled and upset, we are so torn apart as a nation about one simple question: what witness can we believe for a Supreme Court nomination?

And you recognize how not just news sources but an entire nation and families and their children are being torn apart by somebody not telling the truth. And that doesn't just happen in the news. That happens over and over again as we are not careful to protect the truth of God.

The tenth commandment, verse 17. You shall not covet. In modern terms, thou shalt not covet the higher market value of your neighbor's home or the better decor that is on HGTV. You shall not covet your neighbor's main squeeze, nor his media room, nor his BMW, nor his or her Facebook post, however doctored and perfected they have been made.

The strange thing about the coveting one is it's the last of the commands and it's the first that is clearly only attitude. Did you catch that? Everything before has either been an action or some combination of action and attitude. But you get to the tenth and you kind of go, "Oh, that's only about attitude."

And you recognize what the Apostle is doing is not putting a period, but a launching pad. Because now he's saying it's not just the legalistic what you do that's being counted, but what's in your heart as well that has to be considered in terms of obedience to God. What that means is you're now very glad that I got to the last commandment. You go, "Whew, we got through those." And the reality is God is just getting started.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell. God instructs us in his word to be holy as he is holy. How can God expect us to be as holy as he is? Such a statement seems either to ignore our frailty or to impose certain failure. That is, until we understand how God views us.

In this challenging yet heartwarming book, Holiness by Grace, Dr. Bryan Chapell illustrates the principles of grace, the practices of faith, and the motives of love in living a life of holiness. Pastor Bryan will guide you through reassuring scripture passages to discover how works and obedience are not a means of establishing or maintaining salvation, but a grateful response to God's mercy.

Holiness by Grace draws straight from the heart of God as Pastor Bryan's encouraging words will help you understand that your holiness is not so much a matter of what you achieve as it is the grace that God provides, a grace so rich as to make the pursuit of his holiness your soul's deepest delight. You can request your copy of Holiness by Grace when you go online to unlimitedgrace.com or by calling 844-41-GRACE. That's 844-414-7223. And now, more from Bryan Chapell on today's Unlimited Grace.

Bryan Chapell: Recognize what the Apostle is doing is not putting a period, but a launching pad. Because now he's saying it's not just the legalistic what you do that's being counted, but what's in your heart as well that has to be considered in terms of obedience to God. What that means is you're now very glad that I got to the last commandment. You go, "Whew, we got through those."

And the reality is God is just getting started. The Ten Commandments are not this kind of high hurdle that we're supposed to get past. The Ten Commandments are actually the floor of God's expectation. You want to know the ceiling? Turn to Jesus. We play these games in our minds about what Jesus actually requires. You know, he's the gentle Jesus, meek and mild, he doesn't really care.

And yet if you had been at that sermon on the mount where he's doing the sweet things. Look at the birds of the air, they don't sow or gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father cares for them. Look at the flowers of the field, I tell you even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. And if the flowers of the field, which today are and tomorrow are cast into the fire, are so glorious, doesn't God care for you? Oh, wouldn't you love to be there?

Except for what he said about the Ten Commandments. I mean, that was the bulk of the sermon. You have heard it said that you shall not murder. But I say to you, if you are angry with your brother and call him a fool, you will go to hell. I didn't say that, Jesus said that. You have heard it said that you shall not commit adultery. I say to you, if you've looked at another person with lust in your heart, you've already committed adultery and you will not be in the kingdom of God.

Wait, Jesus, you can't mean that. He absolutely meant that. And he's just getting started. For he will say to his brother James later in the New Testament, "Listen, you tell them that if they just break one of these commandments, then by implication they've actually broken them all." And then he will say to the Apostle Paul, and Paul, you tell them this: there's no temptation taken any one of you but such as is common to humanity.

Which means there is no sin out there the seeds of which are not already in my heart and your heart. If you had been at that beautiful, sweet little sermon on the mount, I am telling you, you would have been crushed. You would have said, "I came to get some comfort, I came to get some assurance, I thought you were going to undo the law." And Jesus said, "I didn't come to abolish the law, I came to fulfill it and not one jot or tittle of the law shall change until the kingdom of God comes."

This is... here it is for you. And we would say, "How can anybody stand then? God, what are you... what are you doing to give us message to us that will crush us and destroy us?" And Jesus comes down from the mountain and begins to heal people who cannot help themselves. A leper, a paralytic, a senior citizen, a demon-possessed man.

And Jesus is showing us something about the gospel that was hard-wired into the commandments from the very beginning. I read to you at the beginning of the sermon the end of the Ten Commandments. We hardly ever get there. If you really understood these commandments, attitude and action, they would crush you. And you would say, "Somehow God has got to provide some rescue, some repair. He's got to make a way out here."

Verse 24. An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. "I know these people," God says. "Here's my holiness, here's their record. They're going to be in trouble."

And so I have made a way back to myself. It's going to be by sacrifice, by one substitute for another, the penalty that's actually due. But they need to understand something: the substitute that's going to come is not of their hands. Verse 23. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make yourselves gods of gold. You cannot purchase my affection with silver or gold. That's not going to work.

And if you make this altar to me for the sacrifice, don't even carve on the stone. Don't even chop the stones up. If you put your hand to it as though it's your work, it cannot show my grace. And so God says to his people, "When you make an altar, don't you even touch the stones in such a way as to show your hand is your savior." Instead, we read the last verse which causes us to kind of snicker, you know: and you shall not go up by steps to my altar that your nakedness be not exposed on it and we kind of think, "Ooh, that's kind of funny."

Except God is saying, "Regard me as holy. Regard me as the one who can deliver you by my holiness, not by anything in your part. Because not what you purchase and not what you perform is going to make you right with me." And when my heart knows that, I long for that kind of God and I actually want to honor him.

As Jesus came down from the mountain, we read these words in Matthew 8: when he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him and behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying, "I will. Be clean."

What happens when you read these Ten Commandments and recognize that Jesus only intensifies the obligation? Oh God, you know how unclean I am. You know how wrong my heart as well as my actions. Is there any way back to you? Can you make me clean? And he said, "From the beginning I was teaching you. I can, I will. Not by the work of your hands. You can't bribe me, you can't leverage me. But if you will by faith trust I have made a way by the work of my son, you will be clean."

And then what do our hearts say? "Show me how I can walk with you now. Show me how I can honor you. Show me a way that's safe and good. Teach me your ways, O Lord." And he says, "Okay, I have. This won't gain my love, but you can respond to my grace and know my love even more richly in every day of your life."

Hi friend, this is Bryan Chapell. I'm so glad you chose to spend some of your valuable time studying the scriptures with me today. If God has spoken to you about an issue, a problem, or situation you're dealing with and you'd like to ask him to help you get things straightened out, I'd like to pray with you right now for his guidance.

Heavenly Father, your understanding of this world is beyond what I can imagine and your love for me more than I can fathom. So I come seeking your wisdom and trusting your heart. I turn this concern over to you and I entrust it to you. Please show me the path that I should take by guiding me with your word. Help me to take the next right step and then trust you to do as you know is best. For then we shall be truly blessed. I pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.

Guest (Male): That's Pastor Bryan Chapell and you've been listening to Unlimited Grace. If you would like to hear more from Dr. Chapell, you can find a collection of valuable resources at unlimitedgrace.com. When you visit, you will find today's message and many others from Pastor Bryan. Also, be sure to request a copy of Dr. Chapell's book, Holiness by Grace.

We'll send you this book right away as our way of saying thank you for your most generous financial support. Once again, go to unlimitedgrace.com or you can give by calling 844-41-GRACE. That's 844-414-7223. Please be sure to join us next time as once again we endeavor to put Christ at the center of our efforts so that lives might be transformed by his unlimited grace. This ministry is brought to you by Unlimited Grace Media and continues to be made possible with your generous financial support.