If they won't receive Jesus preach Moses (The 10 Commandments Part 2)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. As time goes on, this has developed more and more. In our nation, we seem to have more of a generic, if I can use the term, secular view of God, where he's kind of kept at arm's length.

God’s Name, National Sin, and the Second Commandment

And it's kept intentionally vague. Which is why, in Congress, when they pass bills that defy God's standard of righteousness, they don't see any problem with that. They don't see it as a contradiction when compared to the statement engraved on the wall, literally, that's above and behind them.

In God we trust. And now, with this Congress, they have gone as far as to pray to the Mother God. They have prayed to the name of the Hindu deity who has six arms. And they even end their prayers by saying, amen, and a woman.

As if amen had anything to do with gender. And it would be funny if it wasn't so sad. My friends, here's the bottom line. When they speak of God, they're not speaking about the God of the Bible. And lest we blame, or lay all the blame at the feet of our representatives, remember, they are our representatives.

We voted them in. Well, I mean, not me. The second commandment, which is tied in to the first. Look at verse four. You shall not make for yourself a carved image of any likeness that is of anything 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 the fourth generations of those who, what?

Hate me.

But showing mercy to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments. That last part is really interesting, isn't it? It kind of gives us some insight. How do you know if a person truly loves God?

See, anyone can say anything. How do you know if a person truly loves the Lord? Well, they keep his commandments. That's what he said. One thing that is clear in scripture is that God hates idolatry. The Lord God hates idolatry, bowing down to statues.

I just want you to think about this. They take a block of wood or some stone and they carve it into the image of an insect or a beast, some animal. And they say, this is a depiction of the creator. I mean, how much more insulting can you get?

So when an idol is made and people bow down and worship it as a representation of the one true God, God hates that. And that's not to mention the people bow down to the statues of Mary and the saints.

And this is happening in every town, in every county, in the nation. And most people seem to be fine with it or they shrug their shoulders. And what's worse is it's being done in the name of Christianity.

People are bowing down to statues, serving them in the name of Christ. You know, that shouldn't be any surprise really, because this is exactly what happened in the Bible in Old Testament Israel. Israel worshipped Baal.

The Israelites worshipped Ashtaroth in the high places.

What did they do?

They fashioned a golden calf and they said, this is our God who delivered us from Egypt. And by the way, the people who are bowing down to these graven images, please understand, I say this because I love them.

We preach a sermon like this because we love them. They've been deceived and we want them to know the truth. We preach a sermon like this because we love this country. Anyone who's ever read the Bible knows that the Old Testament prophets and even Jesus and the disciples to a certain degree, they would preach against the kings.

They would preach against Israel and Judah. But we understand why they did it. They did it because they love God's people. They love God's covenant people. They loved Israel and they loved Judah. So this is from a place of love, wanting people to know the truth.

The Lord says again, you shall not make for yourself a carved image. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. The third commandment, look at verse seven. 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.

All right.

So the young people, I'm talking to you right now.

All right.

O .M .G.

Not acceptable. That's using the name of God in vain. Or you'll hear people say things like, oh, God. Well, unless that's the beginning of your prayer, that's not acceptable. And I know some of you say, well, what's the big deal?

God's name is the big deal. Unless I understand people try to rationalize all of this and say, well, you know, I've never literally worshipped another God. And I certainly don't bow down to statues. Well, you have.

You have used the name of God in vain at some point. And I realize I think you know this, that a lot of people, they don't even realize they're doing it. They don't even know what they're doing, which is why we need to be taught.

This is why we need to be reminded. The Lord gave the commandments for a reason. Never noticed that God doesn't exactly spend a lot of time talking about and giving commandments concerning things that people don't do.

Right.

He gives the commandments because he knows people do these kinds of a thing. So just a general principle about using the Lord's name and trying to avoid doing it in vain. If you're going to use the name Jesus Christ, Lord God, if those words come out of your mouth, you should be talking about Jesus or Christ or God.

And if we're talking about him, we want to do it with reverence.

Amen.

So the Lord knows all of these are common sins. These are all common temptations. The Lord issues commandments because he knows that this is a struggle for people. He knows also the detrimental effect that these things can have.

Sin has a detrimental effect to a person's life. So the Lord in giving the commandments, there's many reasons he does it. But part of it is he wants what's best for you. Just like a parent puts restrictions.

Don't do this. Don't do this. And when you're a child or maybe this is the way kids look at it. And mom and dad just want to spoil all my fun. They won't let me do anything while they're doing it for your own good.

And that's what the Lord does as well. And, of course, if you haven't broken the letter of the law, you have broken the spirit of the law. Jesus makes that clear. You've never worshipped another deity.

Well, have you put things in your life in the world above the Lord? You've never bowed down to an idol. Have you put something above God in your life?

Yes.

And that's a type of idolatry. So, well, at least I've never committed adultery. Well, praise the Lord. But you know what Jesus said in Matthew 5, 27 and 28. He said, if you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery.

But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. We were talking about this yesterday at the men's breakfast. Sometimes people read the Old Testament and they think that God was so strict and wrathful in the Old Testament.

But when you get to the New Testament, things kind of soften up a little bit. And Jesus is just so gracious. No, it's the other way around. It's more strict in the New Testament, really, if you look at it.

You've never murdered anyone. At least I hope not. But you felt like it. I know you don't want to admit to it, but you have. Jesus said in Matthew 5, again, explaining the deeper implications of God's law.

Jesus says, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

So if you look at it this way, anger is the root.

Murder is the fruit.

Sin begins small, doesn't it? Sin begins with a desire in your heart. And we all have all of these different desires in our heart. So sin starts small. It leads to something else. It leads to something else.

And it grows. It's like a seed that grows into a big bush, a big tree. What's the point of the sermon? Righteousness exalts a nation. Sin is what? A reproach. So sin not only destroys and can destroy the individual, sin can destroy a nation.

And sin has destroyed many, many nations. You know, why do you think we are in such turmoil today? I know the temptation, and you know this is true, the temptation is to blame outcomes of elections. That's not the issue.

That's a symptom maybe. The issue, why we are in such turmoil, the issue is sin. Sin is our problem. And we've been sowing seeds of unrighteousness now for generations. And we are reaping the harvest.

Just to go back within, this is within the lifetime of some people here. Replacing God and the Bible in the public schools. And what were they replaced with? Darwinism and evolution. Teaching kids that they're nothing more than a cosmic accident.

That they're nothing more than animals. So why are we surprised if some of them grow up and act like animals? That's what they were taught. You know what animals do? They eat, drink, sleep, and fornicate.

That's what animals do. What's the difference between a human being and an animal? You say, well, human beings work. Animals work to get their food. Well, human beings build things. Animals build things.

It's a lot less sophisticated, but they still build things. You know what the main difference is between a human being and an animal? Human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. We can know and worship our creator.

That's the main difference. Human beings are made in the image after the likeness of God. One more statement about the schools and what's being taught in the schools. And certainly this is true with the universities.

And listen, I know there's many good teachers out there. And God bless all the good teachers who are trying to do the right thing. But let's face it, the Christian worldview has been abandoned. So if we, and I just want to think about this, if we send our kids off to the government schools to be educated by Caesar, can we really be surprised when they come home as Romans?

The Image of God, Human Dignity, and the Christian Worldview

Here's the thing about the Ten Commandments. When you really dig deep and look at what is being said and you compare it to what's going on around us, it's really shocking. It's really shocking. The contrast is so clear.

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. I heard this statement years ago, and I don't know if some of you have heard this. You can let me know after if you have. But somebody said, they said, if people won't receive Jesus, preach Jesus.

But if people won't receive Jesus, preach Moses. I'd never heard of that. It doesn't sound right. I saw some of your expressions. You're like, I don't think that's what you're supposed to do. Well, here's the thing.

Some people are ready to receive the good news. Some people, they know that they have fallen short. They know that they need God's grace. Some people are ready to receive Jesus. They need you to preach about Jesus.

But the obstinate sinner who thinks that they're just fine, or that worse yet, that God actually affirms them in their sin, that person needs to be crushed under the weight of Moses, under God's law, so that they will then see their need for Christ and the gospel.

So I actually think that's a valid, a valid statement.

Preach Jesus.

People won't receive Jesus. Preach Moses. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornett Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornettChurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.