Series: The Ten Commandments
Set Free to Live Free
Part 1: No Other gods....
Exodus 20:1-3
INTRO: Today, we begin an exciting new teaching
series. Beginning today and planning to
conclude on October 4th we will examine the message and meanings of
the Ten Commandments. We begin with some
background:
We’ll begin in Exodus 14 – The children of God have been in
slavery for over 400 years. God delivers
them and Moses leads them out of Egypt and we read in the last verse of
Exodus 14:31 “The people were in reverent awe
before God and trusted in God and his servant Moses.”
3 DAYS
LATER - They are complaining:
Moses led Israel from the Red Sea on to the
Wilderness of Shur. They traveled for three days through the wilderness without
finding any water. They got to Marah, but they couldn’t drink the water at
Marah; it was bitter. That’s why they called the place Marah (Bitter). And the
people complained to Moses, “So what
are we supposed to drink?” Exodus 15:22
6
WEEKS LATER – They are complaining:
The whole company of
Israel complained against Moses and Aaron there in the wilderness. Exodus 16:1
I am stunned every time I read the story of the Exodus. How
can the people of Israel complain like they do? How could they be so ignorant,
so stupid, so forgetful?
The God of the universe had just tossed around the most
powerful man on the face of the earth like a toddler with a rag doll. God
didn’t just humble Pharaoh; he broke his spirit and revealed Pharaoh’s
impotence.
A slave people and their God left him and his nation in
shambles. This display of power sent vibrations throughout the world, inspiring
fear and awe.
Yet Israel’s response to this spectacular deliverance from
Egypt is not mainly praise, worship,
and whole-hearted trust. Instead, Israel responds with grumbling—
complaining, murmuring, quarreling. “No water, Moses! Where’s the beef, Moses?
I have blisters on my feet, Moses. Who died and made you boss? Are we there
yet, Moses?” Spiritual amnesia set in quickly and covered the eyes of Israel’s
hearts. So soon had they forgotten God’s gracious and miraculous deliverance!
This spiritual amnesia — forgetting God’s deliverance and
provision — is a deadly disease. The people of Israel, on the heels of
unthinkable miracles, with their pockets full of Egyptian jewelry, grumble at
their less-than-five-star accommodations in the desert. This wasn’t just
headache-induced grumbling or low-blood-sugar complaining. This was faithlessness. It is the heart
that says, “I know better than God. If only he would follow my plan.”
Another
name for this teaching series could be:
10
EFFECTIVE WAYS TO LIVE A LIFE OF WORSHIP!
But
the title is more than THE 10 COMMANDMENTS
- includes – SET FREE TO LIVE FREE!
HOW
CAN I KEEP THE LAW?
How do
people today respond to the 10 Commandments?
(4 ways)
1. REBEL
against God
You brag about the law. But when you break it, you
rob God of his honor! Romans 2:23
2. CONDEMNATION
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according
to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2 (NKJV)
3. LEGALISM
The written law was made weak by the power of sin.
But God did what the written law could not do. He made his Son to be like those
who live under the power of sin. God sent him to be an offering for sin. Jesus
suffered God’s judgment against our sin. Romans 8:3
4. GRACE
Jesus does for us
everything the holy law requires. The power of sin should no longer control the
way we live. The Holy Spirit should control the way we live. Romans 8:4
Mt. Sinai – Our need for a Savior
Mt. Calvary – The need fulfilled.
“Law-keeping is that life for
which we were fitted by nature, unfitted by sin, and refitted by grace, the
life God loves to see and reward; and for that life liberty is
the proper name.” J. I. Packer
“For its growth, a fish is limited to water, its proper
element. Similarly, people are free- like a fish in water and a bird in the
air- only when they listen (and keep) to God’s law.” J Dumna
This of course is impossible apart from God's grace, but
that is no fault of the Law. The Law promises us freedom--the kind of freedom
that God enjoys in His holy Self; the kind of freedom that a fish enjoys
darting through water, and a bird enjoys soaring through the air--but it cannot
but condemn us in our sinful nature and acts!
“Is the law, then,
against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given
which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.” Galatians 3:21
The Law is righteous, and in our sinful weakness it leads
us to the soul-satisfying emancipator of our souls, Jesus Christ, and through
Him we find the will, desire, and ability to keep the Law in the power of the
Holy Spirit! Through the Grace of God, the Law of God opens for us a field
of freedom for the joy and gladness of our souls!
Bill Hybels writes: “The Lord tells us specifically
that His commands are never burdensome. By this, He doesn’t necessarily mean
they’re easy to keep. Rather, He’s telling us that they’re never foolish. They
are never unnecessary or purely arbitrary. He doesn’t force us to observe
meaningless formalities, nor does He impose rules that have no value. On the
contrary, every guideline, every law, every imperative in the Bible was crafted
in infinite wisdom. They were given not only to honor God, but to benefit us as
well.”
In Jeremiah 29:11 God says to you and me, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm
you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
When Moses climbed Mt. Sinai
The
First Command:
And God spoke all these words, saying:
“I am the Lord your
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You
shall have no other gods before Me.
Exodus 20:1-3 (NKJV)
Our response:
“You are worthy, our Lord and God!
You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power.
You are worthy because you created all things.
They were created and they exist.
This is the way you planned it.” Revelation 4:11
You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power.
You are worthy because you created all things.
They were created and they exist.
This is the way you planned it.” Revelation 4:11
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