Law of Love 4 — Vernon Higham

The Sabbath Commandment in Exodus 20

We shall read the text together within the Ten Commandments at the moment. It's Exodus 20. And my text reads from, in chapter 20, from verse 8 to the end of verse 11. So we read it together. Verse 8 to the end of verse 11.

Remember, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. In six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Now, although I have all that is my context, yet my immediate text is remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

And if you remember last Sabbath we had an introduction to this commandment, but now we're looking at the commandment itself. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. I should ask you a question like this individually here this morning.

The Law of Love and the Human Problem of Sin

I wonder what your answer would be, the vague kind of question that is often asked today. Do you love God? And people say, yes, we love God. That is if they have any kind of faith at all. But the problem is this, that we wish to love God on our terms.

Now in the Ten Commandments we are taught how to love God and how to love our neighbour. So in these first four commandments it's spelled out how God wishes us to express that love. And any other expression is not of God and is merely from human enthusiasm or of the flesh or even worse.

So it is expressed quite clearly by God how he wishes us to love him and to show that love. Now what are these Ten Commandments? Well first of all their purpose, I'd say first and secondly they have a double purpose like the sword I showed you earlier on in the children's story.

In one sense the Ten Commandments are there to break our hearts. You might say that's a very strange thing. Now I'll tell you why very simply and briefly. In the epistles of the Galatians they are called a schoolmaster.

That is as if they were there with a rod or a cane or a sword almost to beat us. Yet Jesus Christ described the Ten Commandments in this way. This is very hard for a legalistic Christian to bear. The Ten Commandments are laws of love.

He said by summing them up, love the Lord thy God with everything that is in thee. That's the law of God. It's the law of love. Then he said after talking about God I'll talk about your neighbour. Tell you how to love your neighbour.

You love yourself well. Love thy neighbour like thyself. Easy as that. Two easy laws. Love God with everything that is in me and love my neighbour as myself. Why does that law become a hard law? Because we can't love God and because we can't love our neighbour as ourselves.

Why can't we? Because of sin. What has sin done to us? Sin has perverted the ability of loving in us into self-love. That's why we pout. That's why we go angry. That's why we are hurt. That's why we are touchy.

That's why we say we won't forgive. Because of self-love. We have been offended. Now then, that self-love prevents us from loving God. You can't love God when there is a selfish love here. The product of sin.

You can't love your neighbour and your enemy as well when there is self-love here. So something must happen to us. Then we turn our eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Because our aim here is talking about a gracious people.

Christ Fulfills the Law and Bears Its Penalty

How can we become a gracious people? Then comes on the scene the Son of God. What does he do? He fulfills the law of God. He loves God with all his heart, soul, mind, with all his being. For you, for me.

He loves his neighbour and he forgives those who crucify him. He loves his neighbour with a love that he has for himself. He does it for you and for me. What about the law we have broken? Because we have not loved God and we have not loved our neighbour.

The penalty for that is eternal damnation. Death, the second death. My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole is nailed to his cross. And I bear it no more, praise the Lord, oh my soul.

So the broken law he has fulfilled for me. That is so great. Will you say that hymn with me? My sin, oh the bliss of this sacred thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole is nailed to his cross. And I bear it no more.

Now then, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul. Do you see it? Now then, where does the law come in? Now listen, by grace are you saved. Through faith and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God.

Make sure that the faith you have in Christ is the faith that saves. Not the ancient heresy of what we call Fideism, Believism. Believe and you are alright. But the faith that is a gift from God. Where God dealt with you.

And you felt as if your very being was being shattered. And you have the ability to believe in Christ with a faith that saves. And that is a gift, it is a gracious faith. Then a miracle takes place. What about the law?

He writes the law now, condemned you before. It showed you your signs. Christ has fulfilled the law for you. Christ has paid the penalty for your broken law. And you are able to say that you are his forever.

Now then, has the law any place in my life? Yes, he now writes the law of God in your heart. Why? Because he says, I want you to love me. That is why I saved you. I want you to love your neighbour and your enemy.

That is why I saved you. But I couldn't do it, Lord. But now you are new. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away. And behold, all things have become new. I now have the ability to love God and to love my neighbour.

Even to the extent of my enemy. Why? Because the grace of God is in my heart. The law now takes its other role. It is now my rule of life. So that is the law of God. What have I? I have new resources of grace.

I have a spirit quickened by the grace of God. I have a mind that is daily renewed. I have a heart that is constrained with God's love. I have all that ability. Now what have we so far in the commandments?

The First Commandment: Worship God Alone

Now look at them with me. The first four deal with loving God. And he is absolutely strict on how we express his love. Now here they are briefly. Commandments one. One God only. There is only one God.

And there must be no competition. The dearest idol I have known. Whatever that idol be. Help me. Not to persuade it away. But to tear it from thy throne. And worship only thee. Even if you put your children or your husband or your wife.

And they are very lovely people. On the throne of where you are to worship. They must be torn away from there. And worship only thee. He insists on having the throne. That's one thing. But that's subjective.

It's in your heart. Secondly. Thou shalt not make any grave an image. Not any likeness. The sculptor must hold back his chisel. The painter must hold back his brush. They have often disobeyed it. We must do that.

The Second Commandment: Rejecting Images of God

Why? Because it is sacrilege. It is wrong to make any image. Any likeness of God the Father. God the Son. Or God the Holy Spirit. Now why? God is a spirit. And anything we produce. Even if we should be the greatest artist in the world.

The greatest person with mystery in the world. And the greatest gift in the world. We must refrain from trying to make an image of God. Why? Because our best efforts will be tarnished. And will be an insult to God.

So we must not. You can paint many other things. You can do stonework with many other things. But not the triune God. God is a spirit. Now remember from the Gospel of John. Who does God seek for? God says he is a spirit.

And I seek those who worship me in spirit and truth. And the Father seeketh such to worship him. Has he found you? Or are you still worshipping God on your own terms? Worshipping in spirit and in truth.

Now what does this mean? Now how were we created? When we were created it was in the image of God. It does not mean arms and legs. Head and shoulders. It does not mean any of those things. God is a spirit.

It is true he gave us a body. Now listen to Colossians 3 .10 which I quoted before in Ephesians 4 .24. And have put on the new man. Which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

Or this one. And that he put on the new man. Which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. What happens to you and myself when we are born again? Without loss of identity. The old man is crucified.

And the new man is there. There is not there a duality. The old man is dead, finished with. And the new man is there. And without loss of identity. This now is patterned on the image of God. So I worship God in spirit and in truth.

Now how can my spirit worship? Because I am in a body. This is where in preaching, in hymn singing, in all that we do. We must be careful of that thin line where the flesh takes over. You see it? We must control the body, the lips.

In preaching, singing, in verbal expression. We must control the body in its behavior. We worship him in spirit and in truth. So that nothing will hinder my innermost being from worshiping God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Third Commandment: Reverence for God's Name

Break the law if you like. But you are answerable for yourself. And I am answerable for myself. Then he says his name. His name must not be taken in vain. Now we are talking to Christians. Now Christians can take his name in vain.

Not in the blasphemous way of the unbeliever. But by talking about his name loosely. And carelessly. And flippantly. We may name him, of course we may name him. But not in such a way as if we had a special concession of over familiarity.

Always be aware of people always saying, the Lord said this, the Lord said that, the Lord said the other. Of course we can say, I believe that the Lord has told me and led me in a certain way. But when every other word is sprinkled, they are too familiar.

He is our friend. But you cannot be parley to the Almighty. He is our friend. But he is the King of Kings. And the Lord of Lords. So do not use his name lightly. Or if you feel that you have been treated badly.

Why has God done this to me? That is using his name in vain. Never in anger. Never lightly. Let the Christian with reverence and with love be able to say how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear.

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and dries away his fear. That is his name. Now his day. All first three really are subjective. And the third one partially. But they are subjective. But the fourth one is the only one that is external in a way.

The Sabbath as an Outward Expression of Love

He only makes one request as an expression of love. Now have you thought of that? It is up to you and myself whether God reigns alone in my heart. It is up to myself whether I worship God in spirit or in truth.

Or act in some strange way. It is up to myself whether I will treat his name flippantly as a Christian. It is up to me. It is a subjective thing. And everyone is answerable like that. And I don't know how you behave.

And you don't know how I behave in as far as that is concerned. But this one is an open expression. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Not in a legalistic way. But an expression of our love. Why am I here this morning?

Because I love him. Why do I love him? Because he first loved me. And you know, love is a stronger motivation than duty. Coming here just as a sense of duty. We benefit but little. But if we come because of love, nothing will stop us.

Keeping the Lord's Day Holy

Now then, let's look at the condition. The first thing on the condition. Just a little message briefly this morning. The condition. It is God's will. Remember the Sabbath day. Why? To keep it holy. Do you do things on the Lord's day?

You know full well you could do on another day. Then you sin as a Christian. And our rebuke in the day of Christ will be severe. You can make excuses to me and to each other. I am nobody. And everybody else is nobody.

But God is somebody. We can make our excuses. Now then, keep it holy. Keep it. Now, using the word holy and change the spelling. Holy unto God. Are you a one, sir? I remember one Welsh preacher putting it rather, slightly sarcastically, but rather humorously, but very well put.

And it got home. There is a tradition in the Welsh speaking area of not coming out in the morning and turning out for the evening service, especially communion. And there is a slang word for an owl in Welsh called a goody-who.

He said, I see that in this village there are a great number of goody-whos. You come out at night only. It was well put. Are we spiritual goody-whos? Either morning ones or night ones or one service is enough for me.

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. It doesn't say Sunday morning. It doesn't say Sunday afternoon. It doesn't say Sunday evening. It says the day. Break it if you like. You're not answerable to me.

But in the day of Christ, you're answerable and I am answerable. It's the only expression he asks for, an outward expression he asks for of our love to him. Now, this has many implications and many ways of working this out in our lives as well.

Why Christians Observe Sunday

Now, you might say, well, that's a Saturday. Yes, it was a Saturday, the seventh day. Why do we have the Sunday? I give you many reasons now here. The Sabbath day, the reason why God instituted the Sabbath day in the first place was the old Sabbath, a memorial of the creation of the world.

It is transferred to the first day of the week in memory of a more glorious work, the recreation, redemption, the glory of redemption was greater than that of creation, the day that Christ rose from the dead.

It's one reason for you. Another is this. Great power was used in bringing us out of nothing, but greater power was used in bringing us out of something worse than nothing, and that is sin. And he remembers this on the day that Christ rose from the dead.

In creation, God speaks a word. In redemption, the blood of his son is shed. In creation, it is the work of God's finger. In redemption, it is the work of his arm. In creation, God gave us ourselves. In redemption, God gave us himself.

In creation, we know of life in Adam. In redemption, of life in Christ. In creation, we only learned of an earthly paradise. In redemption, of a heavenly paradise. And so, with the authority of the Son of God, we go from the seventh to the first.

A new life, a new thing, a new dawn. So we honor the Lord's day on this first day. Now then, what shall I do? Remember to keep it holy. What does holy mean? It means, originally, to separate from other things.

So I separate the Lord's day from every other day. Ah, but I'm so busy. You see, you might say like this. The two of us are working, you might say. And we have many children, or whatever it may be. Did you create the world?

Did you create all that is? Yet God managed it all in six days. Can't we order our little lives in six days? It is his wish, it is his command, that we keep the Sabbath day. Now then, our normal occupations can take the other days.

Worship, Witness, and the Church's Public Testimony

But this one is an open confession that we are the Lord. Walking to church, making the effort. Yes, even when we don't feel up to the mark. I am not saying that when you are very ill you can't make it.

But I would say honestly now. I had to be really ill before I don't come up those steps. I literally had to be carried up. It had to be that bad. I take it that seriously. Honour. Remember the Lord's day to keep it holy.

Now then, why do I do it? Why do you do it? Because we love him. Have you heard the word skimping? Do you know what it means? Have you ever seen a piece of work and you say, Oh you skimped that? It means a careless, untidy kind of work.

Sloppy worship. A sloppy attitude to God. A carnal attitude. An indifferent way. Skimping. Do you skimp this? Do you skimp his day? Do you skimp the worship of God? Or do you with your whole heart say, This is the Lord's day.

Here is an opportunity. He only asked me this in an open way. The other things are in my heart. So he asked me to do this in an open way. So he says, remember. It is the Lord's day today. Remember to keep it holy.

And remember to keep it holy. Unto me. It is a command of Christians. Secondly, the consideration as we regard it. There is a negative and a positive. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.

In it thou shalt not do any work. Then it lists them all. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is. And rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

He did all his work on the other days. So he said, I want you to hallow this day. Because I as the Lord thy God have blessed it. It is a very special day. I have hallowed it. And I blessed it. And I want you as my people to hallow it.

Mercy, Necessity, and Christian Freedom

And I want you to bless it. Now what can you do? The Lord Jesus Christ tells us don't be legalistic about it. There are some things you can do. And you can work it out for yourself. I am not going to work it out.

Deeds of mercy and deeds of necessity. Those we are allowed. Nothing else. Here they are. Deeds of mercy and deeds of necessity. That's quite a big range. But it's narrowed down to that nevertheless. If you go over that, we are answerable in the day of Christ.

The negative part is that you must keep it from the other days. The positive part is this. Keep it holy, hallow. Remember these words what hallow means? Honor, adore and obey. The three words are in hallow.

Honor with your lips. Adore with your heart. Obey with your body. So keep your body disciplined to go to the place of worship. So you do that. Now in Hebrews 10 that I read at the beginning we have these words.

Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. You know they had that problem then. But exhorting one another and so much the more as you see.

What? The day approaching. What day? The day of judgment? No. The terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do. My savior's obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view. No not that.

I have no fear of the day of judgment, the day of Christ as I see the day approaching. Where I am answerable for every word, for every action, for every deed, for every attitude as a believer. I am no less saved.

I am redeemed. I inherit the kingdom of God because of the work of redemption of Jesus Christ. That there are rebukes and rewards. I do not know what they are. But I know that it is a scriptural truth.

That I am answerable in the day of Christ. But more than that, that the word uses this. That we are exposed before the Trinity and the host of heaven for our Christian life. We shall not be thrown out of heaven.

Because Christ has redeemed us. We will all have our share of rebukes and rewards. Concentrate on rewards. And let's make our rebukes as few as possible as it is we can by his grace. As we see the day approaching, exhorting one another to come along to worship.

The Church Assembly and Mutual Encouragement

As some people say, ah but you see, I can read the Bible privately. Of course you can. You can do it six days of the week. Of course you can. Exhorting one another not to neglect the assembling together of the saints as the manner of sermons.

But don't you rebuke them, nor I. But exhort them to keep the Sabbath day. Who has the right to rebuke? God alone. I tremble at the rebuke. Don't you? Keep the Sabbath day holy. And holy unto God. As an individual, certainly spiritually.

And also as a corporate body. He doesn't ask much. One day he says, because you love me, what have you done to deserve my love, O God? I gave my son. I so loved the world that I gave my only begotten son.

That whosoever believeth in me should not perish upon him. Should not perish but have everlasting life. Was there anything that deserved a day more than that? Is there anything that should melt your heart more than that?

Is there any motive that should drive you to come together and worship God more than that? May swords come against us and we will go to our way through the swords. Even if we come bleeding to church. If persecution should come against us, we will still come there.

Why? Because he died on Calvary for our sin. And this is an expression of God's love for us. He gave his all. Cannot we fulfill the one request he asked? Remember the Sabbath day. To keep it holy, pure, clean.

And holy unto God. Now briefly to close, a communion with him. Many benefits. God will honour them that honour him. I have not said anything that is hard or difficult yet. Because surely all of us here this morning would say we love to come.

But we are going through the commandment and I am showing you how important. Not only are we here because we love to come. We are here because it is his wish and his will that we should be here. Or in a place of worship.

Public Faith and the Witness of Church Attendance

It is an outward expression. Not only must we love God. But we must be seen to love God. Supposing you had two together. And one wondered if the other loved. And this person did love that person. And all their life the other person was miserable.

And then just at the end of his or her life. This person said you know that I loved you. Oh I wish you told me once. I wish you told me. That there had been some outward expression of your love. Oh but my heart was I.

And you are the only one in my heart. And there was no one else there. But if you had only given some outward expression. And the outward expression he asked for. As we worship in spirit and in truth.

Make it a public thing. Before the world. And encourage one another to do it. It is not hard. If you look at Calvary. It is not hard. If you think of eternity. It is not hard. If you think of his blood.

Look at the benefits. Hallowing his person. Is good for my soul. It is well pleasing to God. And that pleases your soul. And my soul. It is an immensely satisfying thing. To worship God. With the dignity of your spirit and your truth.

And in truth. It is a satisfying thing. There is nothing more lovely. Than knowing that by the grace of God. That we didn't tip over. In any service. From worshipping in the spirit. To the flesh. In carnal expressions.

It is a satisfying thing. To worship him. And to gather together. As a people of the Lord. It is a great witness. Wherever a church is. And where people gather together. People know. People know this.

They see you going. You may think that not many people see. Of course they do. They know that you go. They know that your door opens at a certain time. And they know where you are going. Of course we live in a city.

And people don't know each other's business. Don't deceive yourself. But they know all right. A city is merely a collection of thousands of villages. Your street. Your road. Your avenue. Knows where you are going.

And knows how regularly you go. And will watch how it affects you. On the remaining six days. You can benefit. From the corporate worship. Where two or three or more. Are gathered together. He is there.

In his name. He is there. He is here. It's a lovely thing. How many of you have told me that. You said things like this to me. That you can't wait for Sunday to come around. I'm like that. I don't want to frighten you all.

But I wish every day was Sunday. The only trouble would be. When would I prepare my messages. With how to come to some system about it. But you know. If you want to go to heaven. It is an eternal Sabbath.

So prepare yourself. By once a week now. It's a very very lovely thing. It is a great witness to a godless nation. Honoring God. To each other. Every age. People talk of generation gaps. I think it's stupid.

Unity in Christ Across Every Generation and Social Class

There are children and young people and middle aged people. And none of us are old. And here we are. All together. And it doesn't matter. Does it? It doesn't matter. If you are sitting next to a person who is 101 and you are only 11.

It doesn't matter. You can share a hymn book. If you are standing to someone who is 6 foot 7 and you are only 5 foot nothing. It doesn't matter. You get to some kind of arrangement to the hymn book. Or get two hymn books.

It doesn't matter. We are all one. In Christ Jesus. It doesn't matter if one of you is a millionaire. If one of you is a millionaire and another has come in little rags and can't afford a suit even. It doesn't matter.

The millionaire may buy you a suit tomorrow. It would be rather nice, wouldn't it? It doesn't matter. There is no difference. In the grave you are both the same. And in heaven you are both the same. And you may be standing next to someone who has about 20 degrees.

Or you may be like me without any. It doesn't matter. And look, I am in the pulpits and you are there with all those degrees. It doesn't matter. We are all the same. We are all one in Christ Jesus. Some of you are hoping for degrees, I know.

That's a different matter again, isn't it? I hope that you get them. We are all one in Christ Jesus. This is a wonderful thing. We are shoulder to shoulder with all sorts of the posh word is IQ. It means intelligence of course.

It means how much you've got here. Don't worry if you haven't got much because you're in good company. You're in my company. You see? I hope it's good company. It doesn't matter if you're clever. It doesn't matter if you're dull.

It doesn't matter. What matters is you're the Lord's. In the Lord's house. On the Lord's day. With his people. Not ashamed to own his name. And not ashamed to sit by whoever may be next to you. We haven't got family pews here.

It is one big family pew. You can sit where you like. You can join me here if you like. You can be where you like. We are one family. That's the meaning of a church. It's a great thing. Doesn't it thrill you?

I'm getting quite excited about this. Every age joining together. Fellowship. For here we have one hymn. Oh, I wish I could remember it now. Where all my kindred are. My friends. You know it. I can't remember the hymn.

You look it up when you go home. It's a beautiful one. About coming to the house of the Lord. Where here my friends and kindred dwell. Your friends are here. Your kindred are here. If anybody's going to help you in trouble, we are going to help you.

As a family of God. If anybody's going to hold you up in a day of trial and affliction. We are going to do it. Why? We are the family of God. And if we don't do it then we are not worthy of the name Christian.

And we haven't learned to love God. Because if you learn to love God, it's second that you learn to love each other. First of all, we learn to love God. Then the love of God is shed abroad in your heart.

So much so that it spills over and it loves the one on each side of you and behind and in front and all round. That's what it does. But we love him on his terms. It's agony for me to miss a service. Thomas once missed a service.

And they told him, the law of the life, believe. See what he missed? He said, I won't believe unless I can put my fingers there, my hand there. You know how he spoke. And then, he was there the next time I know him.

Do you know one of the reasons why I'm afraid of missing a service? One is because I don't want to miss, alright? The other is this. It might be that service that his spirit is poured upon the congregation.

And not to be there then, to miss that. Can you see what I'm saying? It's a terrible thing to miss. And so that I would say with eagerness we come to the house of the Lord. With joy in our hearts, we come to the house of the Lord.

The Church Gathering as a Foretaste of Heaven

It is a wonderful thing. What are the things that happen to me? Here I hear the preaching of the word. Of course, sometimes it's sharper than a two-edged sword. Well, if we needed dealing with and if we were neglecting the sabbath day, well, you've been corrected this morning.

Take the correction as from the Lord and not from me. Or, if you do honour the day, then you had some very exciting things taught to you about the day this morning. And what a wonderful thing you're doing.

You're pleasing God. And you're honouring God. And he will honour you. And you'll benefit from the teaching that's in the word as well. You can have a rebuke. You can be restored. You can have the balm of Gilead.

It can be exciting. It is glorious. It is the nearest thing on earth to heaven. Yes, your private devotion is such the hem of his garment, but when you come with the Lord's people in the ordained way, it is the nearest thing on earth to heaven.

That's a wonderful thing. Do you want to go to heaven? Practice now. Communion with God and fellowship with each other. God will lose none of our love. He says, I am a jealous God. Not the jealousy that you and I know.

He says, I want you all. And I want all your love. And it's only when I've got all your love will you learn how to love others. God will lose none of our love. Love is the soul of religion. And that which constitutes a real Christian.

Love is the queen of graces. It shines and sparkles in God's eyes. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Do that and you'll find his keeping power in wonderful ways in your life. Honor him and he will honor you.

He doesn't ask much but do it. You begin to see something happening in your life. Your attitude is changing. Being filled with the love of God. Submitting yourself to the authority of the word of God.

Finding it is not hard or heavy but easy and pleasant. And good. Let us pray. Oh Lord and our God we come to thee in the name of Jesus Christ our saviour and ask thee to help us for thy name's sake. Amen.