FBC Morning Light – February 4, 2023

Good Saturday morning, people of faith. We're in Exodus chapters 19 and 20. We'll be focusing on chapter 20, a somewhat famous chapter from the book of Exodus. Before we go there, I'm going to read to you 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 15.

It says, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Now, this verse talks often about rightly dividing the word of truth.

The Two Tables of the Ten Commandments

It's used often. And what I want you to see as I read from Exodus 20 is a right division within what's called the Decalogue, more commonly called the Ten Commandments. 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. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, 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.

You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.

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. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

But the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Here's where you see the end of the first division.

All of those first commandments there were about our relationship with the Lord and our commands to serve and worship him. Verse 12, now begins a new division. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.

And here we see that second division of how we're to treat one another. This is much like what the Lord said in summing up what the greatest commandments were. He was asked, teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?

The Greatest Commandments in Matthew 22

This is from Matthew chapter 22. And he responds in verse 37 of Matthew 22. Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Now, I want to say a couple more things about this, about these divisions.

Within the law itself, the ten commandments are referred to typically as being of a moral nature. And I want to suggest to you, and not only just suggest, but tell you this, these moral commandments are in place today, and they have been in place seemingly for all time.

This command in Exodus 20 was not given until thousands of years after Cain had killed Abel, but Cain was still held responsible for murdering Abel. It is always right to worship and serve the Lord God only.

The Moral Law and the Christian Life

That doesn't change. That hasn't changed. And I say these things because there's a thought within modern day Christianity that says, well, I'm under grace and not under the law. And it is true that we are saved by grace.

But remember what Psalm 1 said. Psalm 1 says, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.

And in his law, he meditates day and night. That is something that we are to do. We don't gain any righteousness from following the law. Don't get me wrong about that. We do not gain any righteousness by following the law.

None. However, our delight is to be in what God wants. And he's made some of that very clear of what he wants from us in those 10 commandments. Let's ponder this today as we serve and follow him. Let's pray.

Prayer for Grace, Fellowship, and Delight in God's Law

Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Help us to rightly divide your word. Thank you for the law that you've given to us that the part that still applies and help us to walk in grace, knowing that you fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law, that we might have fellowship with you.

You paid our penalty on the cross. Help us to walk, trusting you, loving you, and serving you. And let us finally delight in the law of the Lord. It's in your son's name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. Have an excellent day, people of faith.