WEBVTT 00:00:00.629 --> 00:00:03.149 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:06.209 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.830 --> 00:00:08.769 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.769 --> 00:00:11.189 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.310 --> 00:00:13.970 Son, and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming 00:00:13.970 --> 00:00:16.269 and joining with us each Sunday morning at 10am 00:00:16.269 --> 00:00:18.809 in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:22.350 us online at secondcitychurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.629 --> 00:00:25.030 Instagram, and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:32.200 sermon. God bless. But I pray that we would be 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:39.399 those who run to you and find that your yoke 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:44.340 is easy and your burden is light. That we would 00:00:44.340 --> 00:00:48.619 find life in you. That we would find following 00:00:48.619 --> 00:00:52.659 you to be the great joy of our lives. The great 00:00:52.659 --> 00:01:01.320 desire of our souls. I pray Lord that as we turn 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:09.799 to commandments law that in this process it might 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:13.359 be it might be the words of Psalm 19 might be 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:17.599 true to us that that your law is more to be desired 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:21.459 than gold and and that we find it sweeter than 00:01:21.459 --> 00:01:26.340 drippings from the honeycomb that we find your 00:01:26.340 --> 00:01:31.750 communication to us something that is better 00:01:31.750 --> 00:01:34.290 than anything else that we could desire in this 00:01:34.290 --> 00:01:40.269 life. Life with you, God. Lord, some of us come 00:01:40.269 --> 00:01:43.269 with a lot of skepticism towards that, and all 00:01:43.269 --> 00:01:45.709 of us come with degrees of doubt and degrees 00:01:45.709 --> 00:01:49.450 of faith and wondering about the truth of your 00:01:49.450 --> 00:01:52.409 Word, and I pray that you would speak to us this 00:01:52.409 --> 00:01:56.530 morning. That it might be more true having been 00:01:56.530 --> 00:02:01.700 with you after this service, that your law is 00:02:01.700 --> 00:02:09.240 lovely, that your words are wonderful. God, do 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:12.500 that, please. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:18.080 All right. If you were here last week, or if 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.259 you weren't, I'm going to tell you, what I suggest 00:02:20.259 --> 00:02:22.680 to you last week is that the resurrection changes 00:02:22.680 --> 00:02:26.300 people, changes people. changed the disciples, 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:29.139 Thomas, Peter, Mary, just the disciples as a 00:02:29.139 --> 00:02:34.680 whole. And also it changes those still who are 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:37.580 brought to life in Christ, who are brought into 00:02:37.580 --> 00:02:42.039 his resurrection Easter people. Thomas's doubt 00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:47.020 becomes a belief and it actually becomes a going. 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:49.360 I don't know if you know this, but many believe 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:51.919 that Thomas actually went all the way to India. 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:55.120 Let's believe that he went all the way there 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:59.340 to preach the good news of the resurrection And 00:02:59.340 --> 00:03:02.860 no doubt sometimes his life was there was doubts 00:03:02.860 --> 00:03:07.300 in it and belief as ours are But his life was 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:11.199 changed by meeting the resurrected Christ Think 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:15.780 of Peter So if you know that Peter famously denied 00:03:15.780 --> 00:03:18.610 Jesus three times before the cock Crowed, right? 00:03:18.610 --> 00:03:21.949 His three -fold denial was changed there in the 00:03:21.949 --> 00:03:24.110 Gospel of John to not a three -fold denial, but 00:03:24.110 --> 00:03:28.310 a three -fold confession of love. No, I love 00:03:28.310 --> 00:03:32.110 you, Lord. And then of service, feed my sheep. 00:03:33.389 --> 00:03:35.969 He was changed. The resurrection changed him. 00:03:38.409 --> 00:03:41.330 It changes us. Our denials often can move towards 00:03:41.330 --> 00:03:43.449 statements of love. Think of Mary's weeping, 00:03:43.969 --> 00:03:46.129 right? We considered that a little bit last week. 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:50.960 Mary goes to the tomb to bring these spices that 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:55.000 would cover the stench of a rotting body. She's 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:57.900 weeping over the empty tomb, not knowing where 00:03:57.900 --> 00:04:01.139 her Lord is, where He has been taken. Yet here 00:04:01.139 --> 00:04:03.759 weeping at the end of that passage comes to a 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:07.099 proclamation. That's what it becomes. I have 00:04:07.099 --> 00:04:11.360 seen the Lord. The resurrection changed her. 00:04:11.979 --> 00:04:14.409 The resurrection sent her out. And of course 00:04:14.409 --> 00:04:15.990 the disciples as a whole too, we talked about 00:04:15.990 --> 00:04:19.089 that, right? Their locked up fear in that upper 00:04:19.089 --> 00:04:24.009 room becomes a going. I'm sending you out, receive 00:04:24.009 --> 00:04:27.209 the Holy Spirit. What I'm saying is that the 00:04:27.209 --> 00:04:30.689 resurrection changes people. The fact of what 00:04:30.689 --> 00:04:33.670 God has done for his people in the cross and 00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:37.670 the empty tomb changes people. So each Easter 00:04:37.670 --> 00:04:40.170 tide, which is like a church way of talking about 00:04:40.170 --> 00:04:44.889 just the season after Easter. Typically that's 00:04:44.889 --> 00:04:47.970 thought of as the time from Easter up until Pentecost 00:04:47.970 --> 00:04:51.589 which is 50 days afterwards which Pentecost will 00:04:51.589 --> 00:04:54.529 get there is the remembrance actually of the 00:04:54.529 --> 00:04:57.029 giving of the law because Pentecost happens 50 00:04:57.029 --> 00:05:00.370 days after the Passover in the Old Testament 00:05:01.170 --> 00:05:03.569 But when we've had these times together, we've 00:05:03.569 --> 00:05:05.329 often, actually every year that I've been here, 00:05:05.329 --> 00:05:07.810 and this is my 11th Easter tide season with you 00:05:07.810 --> 00:05:10.910 all, we've taken a topical series together in 00:05:10.910 --> 00:05:12.629 this season. Normally, we kind of go through 00:05:12.629 --> 00:05:15.430 the Psalms and the summer and the Old Testament, 00:05:15.470 --> 00:05:17.069 New Testament, the fall, and then the gospels. 00:05:17.089 --> 00:05:19.589 Then we do a topical series. And we've done series 00:05:19.589 --> 00:05:23.069 like the fruit of the spirit. How do we live 00:05:23.069 --> 00:05:26.209 by the spirit? What does that look like? Or the 00:05:26.209 --> 00:05:30.889 life of prayer through looking at our Lord's 00:05:30.459 --> 00:05:32.860 prayer, or frankly, just we look at the mission 00:05:32.860 --> 00:05:34.939 statement of our church. How do we want to be 00:05:34.939 --> 00:05:38.399 a people? We considered stewardship. That was 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:40.459 a little while ago. What do we do with the world 00:05:40.459 --> 00:05:42.220 God's given us, the relationships God's given 00:05:42.220 --> 00:05:45.180 us, the means God's given us, and various things 00:05:45.180 --> 00:05:46.980 like that. But for the most part, what I've tried 00:05:46.980 --> 00:05:49.500 to invite you into is this idea of the resurrection 00:05:49.500 --> 00:05:52.259 changes us. What does it mean to be an Easter 00:05:52.259 --> 00:05:57.379 people? So this season, we're going to look at 00:05:57.379 --> 00:06:00.699 the 10 commandments together. Which is gonna 00:06:00.699 --> 00:06:04.000 take longer than 50 days. Okay, it's gonna bleed 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:08.040 into our our summer series And these are the 00:06:08.040 --> 00:06:11.800 words the Lord himself gave to His people when 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:14.439 he met with them Actually, he wrote them on the 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:17.180 stone tablets himself and they're the words that 00:06:17.180 --> 00:06:19.259 are stored right there in the Ark of the Covenant 00:06:19.259 --> 00:06:21.819 Which was right there in the most holy place 00:06:21.819 --> 00:06:23.800 right in the center of the tabernacle and then 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:28.910 the temple Such a central thing to God and his 00:06:28.910 --> 00:06:32.189 people, the 10 words that summarized love of 00:06:32.189 --> 00:06:36.509 God and love of neighbor. But I'm thinking that 00:06:36.509 --> 00:06:39.370 as quickly as I'd say that we're going to have 00:06:39.370 --> 00:06:42.069 our attention focused on the 10 commandments. 00:06:43.250 --> 00:06:45.550 My guess is that there are different reactions 00:06:45.550 --> 00:06:49.189 that come up. And that some of those reactions 00:06:49.189 --> 00:06:51.189 are you thinking, I don't know if I really want 00:06:51.189 --> 00:06:57.509 to give my attention to law, commandments. And 00:06:57.509 --> 00:07:00.850 so I kind of want to introduce this series in 00:07:00.850 --> 00:07:03.490 some ways by maybe addressing why you may feel 00:07:03.490 --> 00:07:07.629 that kind of initial gut reaction. And then why 00:07:07.629 --> 00:07:10.889 I also want to say this is a good thing to consider 00:07:10.889 --> 00:07:14.110 as an Easter people. And I want to do that in 00:07:14.110 --> 00:07:16.870 a way that, I hope this makes sense. I want to 00:07:16.870 --> 00:07:19.850 do that in a way, in this way. I want us to consider 00:07:19.850 --> 00:07:24.829 the order of the words don't do and done. Okay? 00:07:25.340 --> 00:07:30.339 How do you order those words? So first, we're 00:07:30.339 --> 00:07:32.180 just gonna take them in that order. Don't do 00:07:32.180 --> 00:07:40.759 done. So my assumption is that for a lot of you, 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:42.399 and I think when we think of the Ten Commandments 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:44.959 again, you kind of come to that idea and you're 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:47.560 like, I don't know that I really enjoy this kind 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:49.500 of idea for a series. Maybe this is you this 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:52.560 morning. And maybe this is you because when you 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:54.139 come to the Ten Commandments, the first word 00:07:54.139 --> 00:07:59.759 you think of is you think of rules. You think 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:02.560 of maybe the Ten Commandments hanging up in a 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:08.480 school room, rules. Maybe you think of the controversies 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:10.300 surrounding Ten Commandments, like them hanging 00:08:10.300 --> 00:08:14.480 up in courtrooms or municipal buildings, rules. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:16.300 You think of church, state stuff, maybe when 00:08:16.300 --> 00:08:19.370 you think of that. But for the most part when 00:08:19.370 --> 00:08:20.589 you think of 10 commandments this is what you're 00:08:20.589 --> 00:08:21.910 thinking of you're thinking rules and when you 00:08:21.910 --> 00:08:28.670 think of rules you think No, thank you And some 00:08:28.670 --> 00:08:30.810 of this some of this I think is just our good 00:08:30.810 --> 00:08:35.529 old -fashioned rebellion Like like when you're 00:08:35.529 --> 00:08:37.970 told not to take a cookie out of the cookie jar 00:08:37.970 --> 00:08:40.509 it is so hard not to do that when you're told 00:08:40.509 --> 00:08:44.980 that Because your heart just wants it There's 00:08:44.980 --> 00:08:47.899 just something nice about breaking some rules. 00:08:50.580 --> 00:08:53.340 The Ten Commandments, along with a good number 00:08:53.340 --> 00:08:57.259 of other things, have also become rules for kind 00:08:57.259 --> 00:09:04.720 of performative religion. Like politicians posting 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:08.559 pithy proverbs to perform for their people. I 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:09.980 tried to think of how many Ps I could get in 00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:14.029 one sentence there. But you know, performative 00:09:14.029 --> 00:09:17.090 religion, I'm gonna post these things as if I 00:09:17.090 --> 00:09:20.830 care. I'm gonna make this prayer so that you 00:09:20.830 --> 00:09:24.250 think I care, so that I can win something from 00:09:24.250 --> 00:09:29.210 you. And performative religion, performative 00:09:29.210 --> 00:09:31.950 acts that correspond to true faith, but lack 00:09:31.950 --> 00:09:38.529 it, are a turnoff. They were to Jesus as well. 00:09:39.810 --> 00:09:43.389 He called a lot of people whitewashed tombs. 00:09:43.710 --> 00:09:45.549 And those people he called whitewashed tombs, 00:09:45.590 --> 00:09:50.090 man, they knew their commandments. They could 00:09:50.090 --> 00:09:53.409 rattle them off in order. So we may approach 00:09:53.409 --> 00:09:55.350 a series on the Ten Commandments with a no thank 00:09:55.350 --> 00:09:58.710 you, in part because of our good old fashioned 00:09:58.710 --> 00:10:03.830 rebellious hearts. But also we might do that 00:10:03.830 --> 00:10:06.049 because there's an approach to religion that 00:10:06.049 --> 00:10:13.070 just reeks of hypocrisy. We might also do that 00:10:13.070 --> 00:10:20.210 because churches often have led with the don'ts. 00:10:21.070 --> 00:10:23.330 Here's the thing, right? For as much as some 00:10:23.330 --> 00:10:26.950 people don't like rules, a lot of people like 00:10:26.950 --> 00:10:37.759 rules too, right? It's true. that a lot of churches 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:40.460 kind of lead with don'ts, don't do this, don't 00:10:40.460 --> 00:10:44.360 do that. And no doubt, some of you are turned 00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:47.919 off by that kind of thing. But it's also the 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:52.059 case that self -help books like, you know, 10 00:10:52.059 --> 00:10:55.720 Steps for This are wildly important, like influential. 00:10:56.940 --> 00:10:59.399 You don't need to show hands, but I guarantee 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:02.639 a lot of you have read 12 Rules for Life, that 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.840 wildly popular book by Jordan Peterson. There's 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:10.419 a lot of rules that we kind of like. And Christians 00:11:10.419 --> 00:11:14.100 oftentimes love rules. So one turnoff is that 00:11:14.100 --> 00:11:16.000 you come to Christianity and you think, man, 00:11:16.019 --> 00:11:19.539 all I'm hearing is a lot of don'ts. Don't, right? 00:11:20.750 --> 00:11:22.629 It's true. A lot of people in church settings 00:11:22.629 --> 00:11:25.769 love rules and they love the don'ts. Don't swear, 00:11:25.909 --> 00:11:28.330 don't drink, don't chew, and do not go with girls 00:11:28.330 --> 00:11:35.110 who do. Amen. No, don't say amen to that. So 00:11:35.110 --> 00:11:37.350 you come and you go, oh, don't covet, don't covet, 00:11:37.470 --> 00:11:39.610 don't lie, steal, don't commit adultery, don't 00:11:39.610 --> 00:11:42.590 murder. And I hope that you actually find that 00:11:42.590 --> 00:11:44.610 those are life -giving words and there's something 00:11:44.610 --> 00:11:46.289 to be cherished and something that we can get 00:11:46.289 --> 00:11:49.429 behind actually societally because they are for 00:11:49.429 --> 00:11:51.669 our good. That's actually part of my desire in 00:11:51.669 --> 00:11:53.330 this service is to see that those are words that 00:11:53.330 --> 00:11:56.669 give life. But let's just also admit that so 00:11:56.669 --> 00:11:58.850 many Christians, so many churches lead with the 00:11:58.850 --> 00:12:05.830 don'ts. The order is don't do done. And man, 00:12:05.929 --> 00:12:10.289 that list of rules can be so oppressive. A lot 00:12:10.289 --> 00:12:12.429 of people perceive Christianity to be a religion 00:12:12.429 --> 00:12:15.269 of don'ts before it is a religion of dos and 00:12:15.269 --> 00:12:19.070 before it is a religion of done. If you just 00:12:19.070 --> 00:12:21.330 don't do a bunch of things, then God will save 00:12:21.330 --> 00:12:26.889 you. God's favor will be upon you. That's the 00:12:26.889 --> 00:12:29.809 order that we often put them in. Don't do done. 00:12:31.070 --> 00:12:34.370 Now I'm sure that there are others of you who 00:12:34.370 --> 00:12:36.789 come to the Ten Commandments and you say, well, 00:12:36.789 --> 00:12:40.669 I don't really like all these shall nots. It's 00:12:40.669 --> 00:12:45.649 so negative. It's so negative. You know, you 00:12:45.649 --> 00:12:48.129 shall not have any other gods before me. You 00:12:48.129 --> 00:12:51.090 shall not make for yourself a carved image. All 00:12:51.090 --> 00:12:54.330 of those rest of shall nots. So you're like, 00:12:54.330 --> 00:12:56.429 well, I don't really like the order of don't 00:12:56.429 --> 00:12:59.309 do done. I would rather it to be do first, at 00:12:59.309 --> 00:13:03.250 least. So maybe you go, I don't really care for 00:13:03.250 --> 00:13:04.590 the Ten Commandments, but you know what I love 00:13:04.590 --> 00:13:07.450 is when Jesus summarizes those Ten Commandments. 00:13:07.909 --> 00:13:12.110 Because it's so positive. Love the Lord your 00:13:12.110 --> 00:13:15.009 God. With all your heart, your soul, and your 00:13:15.009 --> 00:13:18.029 mind, and your strength. And then love your neighbor 00:13:18.029 --> 00:13:21.409 as yourself. Jesus' own summary of the Ten Commandments. 00:13:22.809 --> 00:13:25.289 So you might not say, I don't like the don't 00:13:25.289 --> 00:13:30.200 do done. Let's at least go do first. Let's begin 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:33.980 with the positive. After all, Jesus is asked 00:13:33.980 --> 00:13:36.480 more than once, actually, what the most important 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:39.080 commandment is. And also he's asked, how do I 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:41.840 inherit eternal life? And he responds by that 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:44.100 summary of the 10 commandments, love the Lord 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:45.840 your God and love your neighbor as yourself. 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:49.620 And maybe this morning that sounds a lot more 00:13:49.620 --> 00:13:52.980 appealing to you because it is a do love, a do 00:13:52.980 --> 00:14:00.450 love instead of a bunch of don'ts. But this reminded 00:14:00.450 --> 00:14:03.769 me of something that happened to me years ago 00:14:03.769 --> 00:14:05.590 when I was living in St. Louis. I was attending 00:14:05.590 --> 00:14:08.610 Covenant Theological Seminary, and I was going 00:14:08.610 --> 00:14:11.110 back home to Washington State to see my family. 00:14:11.509 --> 00:14:13.669 And I must have gotten the cheapest flight possible 00:14:13.669 --> 00:14:15.389 because that's what I always did. And I had this 00:14:15.389 --> 00:14:17.070 long layover. I want to say it was about eight 00:14:17.070 --> 00:14:19.429 hours in Salt Lake City. I'd been to Salt Lake 00:14:19.429 --> 00:14:21.750 City a few times, but this time I didn't have 00:14:21.750 --> 00:14:23.149 a car. I'd driven through quite a few times, 00:14:23.169 --> 00:14:25.769 and I thought, oh, there's a free shuttle to 00:14:25.769 --> 00:14:29.120 the Mormon temple. I've got time, let's go do 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:30.840 it. I've never been to the museum that's there. 00:14:31.320 --> 00:14:33.139 Let's go check it out. It was a beautiful day 00:14:33.139 --> 00:14:37.059 out. So I got on this shuttle and I went to the 00:14:37.059 --> 00:14:39.899 Mormon temple in Salt Lake City. And I went into 00:14:39.899 --> 00:14:42.139 the museum and I went through it and it was pretty 00:14:42.139 --> 00:14:43.980 interesting. And then I sat outside and I remember 00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:46.340 sitting outside on kind of a rock cement wall 00:14:46.340 --> 00:14:48.899 that was in this little courtyard right in front 00:14:48.899 --> 00:14:51.899 of the main entrance into the temple there. And 00:14:51.899 --> 00:14:53.580 just sitting and I think I was enjoying a coffee. 00:14:53.620 --> 00:14:55.639 It was a beautiful spring day, I like today. 00:14:56.710 --> 00:14:59.610 And then I noticed there's all these brides and 00:14:59.610 --> 00:15:02.629 grooms coming and going. It was like very obviously 00:15:02.629 --> 00:15:04.210 not just one person's wedding, but quite a few 00:15:04.210 --> 00:15:06.769 people were getting married. And so this lady 00:15:06.769 --> 00:15:08.250 comes out who was obviously not the bride or 00:15:08.250 --> 00:15:10.070 she wasn't dressed up as a bride. She came out 00:15:10.070 --> 00:15:11.549 and I was like, I'm gonna go talk to this lady. 00:15:12.149 --> 00:15:16.490 So there's so many weddings today. I would guess 00:15:16.490 --> 00:15:18.950 that it's like the greatest honor of honors within 00:15:18.950 --> 00:15:24.960 the Mormon church to be married. the temple in 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:26.919 Salt Lake City." She said, it is absolutely an 00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:28.980 honor. It's a great honor. And I said, well, 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:34.519 how do I get to do that? And she said, you love 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:38.320 the Lord Jesus as your savior. And I said, that's 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:44.100 me. I didn't say sign me up. I don't think I 00:15:44.100 --> 00:15:48.220 was dating anyone even. But I was like, okay, 00:15:48.419 --> 00:15:51.720 well, I fit. Can I get married here? And she's 00:15:51.720 --> 00:15:54.639 like, well, Well, you have to be married here. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:56.919 You do have to be a member of the Mormon church 00:15:56.919 --> 00:16:00.100 That doesn't fit and then she said and and there's 00:16:00.100 --> 00:16:01.500 a few other things I was like, what are those 00:16:01.500 --> 00:16:08.039 things? And she said well You have to be honorably 00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:11.340 recommended by a couple people and they're recommending 00:16:11.340 --> 00:16:19.240 you based on virginity and tithing Okay Yeah, 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:22.669 so you have to show that you're worthy And you 00:16:22.669 --> 00:16:24.330 have to show that you're not just you've given, 00:16:24.330 --> 00:16:26.149 but your family's given for at least a few years 00:16:26.149 --> 00:16:30.870 to the, okay. I'm like, well, nevermind. But 00:16:30.870 --> 00:16:34.389 here's why I'm tying this together because there's 00:16:34.389 --> 00:16:37.629 something that sounds so just appealing by this 00:16:37.629 --> 00:16:39.570 love Lord, you gotta love your neighbor. And 00:16:39.570 --> 00:16:41.470 then there's this list of do's and you've got 00:16:41.470 --> 00:16:44.269 to check it off in order to be approved. It's 00:16:44.269 --> 00:16:46.450 maybe doesn't sound quite as bad as the shall 00:16:46.450 --> 00:16:49.889 nots and the don'ts, but they start with the 00:16:49.889 --> 00:16:54.940 do's. which of course quickly imply the don'ts, 00:16:54.940 --> 00:16:58.879 right? They do, because it's mostly your acceptance 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:06.259 is predicated on your action or what you have 00:17:06.259 --> 00:17:10.619 done, what you have not done. Often we love these 00:17:10.619 --> 00:17:12.099 two commandments, love the Lord your God and 00:17:12.099 --> 00:17:14.559 love your neighbor because they're more positive. 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:18.720 And it is a beautiful summary of the law. But 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:20.500 when we take away the Ten Commandments so often, 00:17:20.740 --> 00:17:23.519 we have to add so many more. It's like when GK 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:25.740 Chesterton was asked about the beauty of the 00:17:25.740 --> 00:17:28.059 brevity of the Ten Commandments. He says, if 00:17:28.059 --> 00:17:30.319 men will not be governed by the Ten Commandments, 00:17:30.380 --> 00:17:33.220 they shall be governed by the Ten Thousand Commandments. 00:17:34.420 --> 00:17:37.019 We just keep adding on the what are you doing? 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:44.140 What have you done? In one of those interactions 00:17:44.140 --> 00:17:46.140 around the two commandments that summarize the 00:17:46.140 --> 00:17:48.859 ten, Jesus responds to the scribe who asks him 00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:52.200 the question by saying, this is Jesus' response 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:54.660 when the man summarizes the commandment, he says, 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:59.240 you are not far from the kingdom of God, which 00:17:59.240 --> 00:18:01.079 I think is a really interesting statement. That's 00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:03.079 an interesting response that Jesus gives in that 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:06.559 context. You're not far from the kingdom of God 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:09.819 because he's saying you're in a sense, you're 00:18:09.819 --> 00:18:14.000 getting something good by by delighting in the 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.599 law and even by summarizing it in this positive 00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:20.779 way, you're getting that the love of God and 00:18:20.779 --> 00:18:22.980 the love of neighbor are an essential thing and 00:18:22.980 --> 00:18:24.900 a beautiful thing and something to be desired. 00:18:25.660 --> 00:18:31.420 But he still says, you're not there. You can 00:18:31.420 --> 00:18:34.859 say, okay, let's not start with the don'ts. Let's 00:18:34.859 --> 00:18:37.299 not do don't, do done. Let's start with the dos. 00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:40.400 But even if you still start with your action 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:43.940 or your lack thereof, He says, you're still not 00:18:43.940 --> 00:18:47.019 there. You're not far, but you're not there. 00:18:48.019 --> 00:18:49.619 What I want to suggest to you this morning is 00:18:49.619 --> 00:18:52.859 that there is only one gospel, which means good 00:18:52.859 --> 00:18:56.000 news, ordered to these words. There's only one 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.980 order. And if you get that order wrong in the 00:18:58.980 --> 00:19:04.440 Bible, you get it all wrong. The Christian message 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:07.640 is no longer good news, but it is a burden if 00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:11.710 you get that wrong. It's no longer a freeing 00:19:11.710 --> 00:19:17.289 yoke but a heavy weight and Here is the only 00:19:17.289 --> 00:19:20.250 order that the Bible ever talks about with regards 00:19:20.250 --> 00:19:32.049 to the law done done Do don't Okay, this hasn't 00:19:32.049 --> 00:19:35.490 been a terribly like exegetical sermon like coming 00:19:35.490 --> 00:19:38.660 right out of the passage But turn with me to 00:19:38.660 --> 00:19:41.599 Exodus chapter 20, okay? I want you to see this, 00:19:41.619 --> 00:19:46.200 because I think this is essential. So Exodus 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:50.119 chapter 20. I forget what page it is on. It's 00:19:50.119 --> 00:20:00.039 on page 72, if you've got your pew Bibles. And 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:01.299 you've got to see this. I want you to actually 00:20:01.299 --> 00:20:05.789 look at this, okay? verse 21, or sorry, verse 00:20:05.789 --> 00:20:10.670 one and two, which Jason read for us. And God 00:20:10.670 --> 00:20:14.190 spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your 00:20:14.190 --> 00:20:17.789 God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 00:20:18.670 --> 00:20:22.990 out of the house of slavery. Now I want us to 00:20:22.990 --> 00:20:24.890 get to the rest of the commandments, we are going 00:20:24.890 --> 00:20:28.150 to get there, but I wanted you to only hear that. 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:32.660 Because that is the very beginning of all of 00:20:32.660 --> 00:20:35.440 the rest and you do not hear all of the rest 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:40.200 properly unless you first hear that. That is 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:46.259 the foundation. What has God done? The great 00:20:46.259 --> 00:20:48.680 act of salvation in the Old Testament is that 00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:50.960 God brought his people out from the land of slavery 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:55.180 into himself. It's repeated again and again. 00:20:56.200 --> 00:20:58.680 Why can you trust this God? Because I brought 00:20:58.680 --> 00:21:02.450 you with a mighty arm, with an outstretched hand, 00:21:03.190 --> 00:21:06.390 with great deeds, out from slavery, and I brought 00:21:06.390 --> 00:21:13.170 you to myself. I am the Lord your God." Done. 00:21:13.730 --> 00:21:17.630 He's saying, my work is done. What I'm calling 00:21:17.630 --> 00:21:20.089 you to is only out of a relationship that I have 00:21:20.089 --> 00:21:24.829 established based on my grace for poor sinners. 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:29.900 The Bible always begins with what has God done 00:21:29.900 --> 00:21:36.779 first and then moves into a call to action. This 00:21:36.779 --> 00:21:39.140 same gospel order can be found again and again 00:21:39.140 --> 00:21:40.759 and again in the Bible. I want to just highlight 00:21:40.759 --> 00:21:45.759 a couple for you. So our New Testament passage 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:49.240 this morning was from 1st Peter chapter 2. And 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:51.220 1st Peter chapter 2, if we had time, we could 00:21:51.220 --> 00:21:54.079 go back to Exodus chapter 19. And what you would 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:57.019 hear in 1st Peter chapter 2 is an echo of Exodus 00:21:57.019 --> 00:22:00.920 19. So the very, actually it's the paragraph 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:04.380 before the Ten Commandments that is echoed in 00:22:04.380 --> 00:22:07.519 1st Peter chapter 2. And beginning in verse 9 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:10.319 of that chapter, Peter says, but you are a chosen 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:14.019 race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people 00:22:14.019 --> 00:22:18.480 for his own possession. That you may proclaim 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:20.660 the excellencies of him who called you out of 00:22:20.660 --> 00:22:22.819 darkness and into his marvelous light. Do you 00:22:22.819 --> 00:22:26.660 hear all the duns? You are chosen. God does that. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:29.559 You're a royal priesthood. I've made you this. 00:22:29.700 --> 00:22:31.519 You're a holy nation. That's what I've done. 00:22:32.660 --> 00:22:37.759 You're the people from my possession. It says 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:42.480 that you may proclaim the dues out of the duns. 00:22:42.969 --> 00:22:45.289 The excellencies of Him who called you out of 00:22:45.289 --> 00:22:47.630 darkness and into His marvelous light. Keep going 00:22:47.630 --> 00:22:50.009 in verse 10. Once you were not a people, but 00:22:50.009 --> 00:22:51.750 now you're God's people. Once you had not received 00:22:51.750 --> 00:22:54.490 mercy, but now you have received mercy. It's 00:22:54.490 --> 00:22:58.430 you have. It's passive. It's what has God done 00:22:58.430 --> 00:23:00.250 for you? And then He says, beloved, I urge you 00:23:00.250 --> 00:23:02.269 as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the 00:23:02.269 --> 00:23:04.910 passions of the flesh, which wage war against 00:23:04.910 --> 00:23:07.450 your soul. Then He goes to the do's and the don'ts. 00:23:07.549 --> 00:23:13.279 It is always done first. Let's consider another 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:18.640 one, Colossians chapter 3. This is a beautiful 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:25.680 chapter in Scripture. Colossians chapter 3, starting 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:30.599 in verse 1. If then you've been raised with Christ, 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:32.740 if you're a resurrection people, if you're an 00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:36.099 Easter people, seek the things that are above 00:23:36.099 --> 00:23:38.039 where Christ is, seated at the right hand of 00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:43.559 God, if you have been. If this is true of you, 00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:48.339 if God has already done for you, then seek the 00:23:48.339 --> 00:23:52.680 things that are above. Verse three, for you have 00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:54.900 died and your life is hidden with Christ and 00:23:54.900 --> 00:23:56.980 God. When Christ, whose your life appears, then 00:23:56.980 --> 00:24:00.859 you also appear with him in glory. And then that 00:24:00.859 --> 00:24:03.599 done, that reality of what God has done for you 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:07.940 moves towards the do's. Put to death therefore 00:24:07.940 --> 00:24:10.359 what is earthly in you sexually more out sexual 00:24:10.359 --> 00:24:13.759 immorality impurity passion evil desire and covetousness, 00:24:13.940 --> 00:24:17.460 which is idolatry Doesn't don't those even echo 00:24:17.460 --> 00:24:20.519 some of the Ten Commandments covetousness sexual 00:24:20.519 --> 00:24:22.799 impurity idolatry, that's all Ten Commandment 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:26.279 language But it's coming out of the what has 00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:32.059 God done for you in Christ. I Could keep going 00:24:32.059 --> 00:24:35.880 Actually, I will keep going look down at verse 00:24:35.880 --> 00:24:42.349 12 Put on then as God's chosen ones. See, as 00:24:42.349 --> 00:24:46.730 God has chosen you, put on, right? Do have compassionate 00:24:46.730 --> 00:24:50.730 hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 00:24:51.309 --> 00:24:53.009 bearing with one another. And if anyone has to 00:24:53.009 --> 00:24:55.650 complain against another, forgiving each other 00:24:55.650 --> 00:24:58.890 as the Lord has forgiven you, right? Because 00:24:58.890 --> 00:25:03.190 Jesus has done this. This is the gospel word. 00:25:03.190 --> 00:25:10.359 This is the only good news order. It's it. Brothers 00:25:10.359 --> 00:25:13.119 and sisters, my hope in this is that you will 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:17.440 come to delight in the law of the Lord. That 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:19.480 like the psalmist says, like David said in Psalm 00:25:19.480 --> 00:25:21.980 1, that it might be your meditation day and night. 00:25:23.099 --> 00:25:25.339 Something you desire to pour over and to put 00:25:25.339 --> 00:25:29.619 on and to really know and become part of you. 00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:33.920 My hope is that you will be able to sing Psalms 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:37.759 like Psalm 19. where you say, the law of the 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:43.680 Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. We don't 00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:48.059 approach it and you think, no thanks, I'd rather 00:25:48.059 --> 00:25:51.880 just do my own thing. You say, it revives my 00:25:51.880 --> 00:25:55.000 soul. Then you might continue to sing that song 00:25:55.000 --> 00:26:00.799 where you say, I desire it more than gold and 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:05.829 what I can acquire. I desire it more than honey, 00:26:06.069 --> 00:26:08.970 even fresh honey from the honeycomb, what I can 00:26:08.970 --> 00:26:15.089 taste and consume. My desire for us, my hope, 00:26:16.029 --> 00:26:18.170 is that you will come to call the Ten Commandments 00:26:18.170 --> 00:26:20.529 what St. Augustine, who's the theologian of love, 00:26:20.890 --> 00:26:27.069 called that instrument of ten strings. The instrument 00:26:27.069 --> 00:26:30.329 of ten strings by which we play beautiful music 00:26:30.329 --> 00:26:35.849 that show our love for our Lord. But what I'm 00:26:35.849 --> 00:26:38.190 suggesting to you is that the only way we are 00:26:38.190 --> 00:26:41.589 going to do that, the only way we do that is 00:26:41.589 --> 00:26:46.730 if we get the order right. If we flip -flop it, 00:26:47.269 --> 00:26:51.730 if we flip -flop it and we put our work before 00:26:51.730 --> 00:26:54.269 God's work, our doing and our don't doing before 00:26:54.269 --> 00:26:58.009 his done work, then we just follow all the other 00:26:58.009 --> 00:27:03.980 religions. It's all the other stuff. Do this 00:27:03.980 --> 00:27:10.400 and God will look upon you in kindness. The Christianity 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:12.460 says, I'm Lord your God who brought you out of 00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:14.359 the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 00:27:15.319 --> 00:27:18.519 Therefore don't have other gods. I don't have 00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:22.099 any other gods before me. And says, if then you've 00:27:22.099 --> 00:27:25.859 been raised with Christ, if Christ's finished 00:27:25.859 --> 00:27:28.859 work is for you, then seek the things that are 00:27:28.859 --> 00:27:32.920 above where he is seated. You see, as long as 00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:35.960 the don'ts and the do's come first, all you will 00:27:35.960 --> 00:27:39.819 find is that the law is a burden. It will be 00:27:39.819 --> 00:27:43.299 something you will disdain. It will be a slave 00:27:43.299 --> 00:27:47.779 master. But if first you look to the one who 00:27:47.779 --> 00:27:51.319 keeps the law perfectly on your behalf, the Lord 00:27:51.319 --> 00:27:54.599 Jesus himself who is crucified and resurrected 00:27:54.599 --> 00:27:58.559 for you, then living as an Easter people is something 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:05.059 that we would all gladly seek. We'd gladly sing 00:28:05.059 --> 00:28:08.420 of. We'd think it'd give us wings and make us 00:28:08.420 --> 00:28:12.839 fly. A lot of you probably know John Bunyan. 00:28:13.160 --> 00:28:16.000 John Bunyan wrote one of the greatest books, 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:19.500 certainly one of the greatest selling books ever, 00:28:19.900 --> 00:28:25.940 Pilgrim's Progress. He kind of famously wrote 00:28:25.940 --> 00:28:33.789 this poem. He wrote, Run John Run. and work the 00:28:33.789 --> 00:28:38.569 law commands. Yet finds me neither feet nor hands. 00:28:40.470 --> 00:28:43.190 But sweeter news the gospel brings, it bids me 00:28:43.190 --> 00:28:47.769 fly and lends me wings. You just start with the 00:28:47.769 --> 00:28:51.009 law, you can't get anywhere. There's no hands 00:28:51.009 --> 00:28:53.950 and feet just with that. If you have the good 00:28:53.950 --> 00:28:57.609 news, you can start to fly. Now most people think 00:28:57.609 --> 00:28:59.450 that John Bunyan actually didn't first write 00:28:59.450 --> 00:29:05.650 that. They think John Erskine, who was a great 00:29:05.650 --> 00:29:08.930 Scottish pastor, actually wrote something that 00:29:08.930 --> 00:29:11.009 then John Bunyan twisted because he liked to 00:29:11.009 --> 00:29:15.750 put his name in it. Let me give you Erskine's. 00:29:15.849 --> 00:29:18.529 Erskine, who lived a little bit before John Bunyan, 00:29:18.710 --> 00:29:20.230 they were sort of contemporaneous, but he was 00:29:20.230 --> 00:29:24.150 a little bit older, wrote, a rigid master was 00:29:24.150 --> 00:29:30.670 the law, demanding brick, denying straw. I want 00:29:30.670 --> 00:29:33.410 you to think of that because if the law is just 00:29:33.410 --> 00:29:35.869 that, then all God was doing was taking them 00:29:35.869 --> 00:29:38.670 out from one form of slavery and putting them 00:29:38.670 --> 00:29:43.609 into another. Right? Demanding brick and denying 00:29:43.609 --> 00:29:46.509 straw. That's an echo of what was happening in 00:29:46.509 --> 00:29:50.410 Egypt under slavery. But when the gospel tongue 00:29:50.410 --> 00:29:56.230 it sings, it bids me fly and it gives me wings. 00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:00.500 which is to say, if you can start with the finished 00:30:00.500 --> 00:30:04.619 work of Jesus, he kept the law perfectly. He 00:30:04.619 --> 00:30:07.619 gave his life for you. If you can rest in this 00:30:07.619 --> 00:30:13.640 reality of what was done by God, and you'd gladly 00:30:13.640 --> 00:30:18.119 say, Lord, help me fly with your wind behind 00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:23.039 me. Let me run the race that was set before me. 00:30:23.859 --> 00:30:29.299 Let me put on A kind of living that is reflective 00:30:29.299 --> 00:30:37.019 of you. The only way. The only way the law will 00:30:37.019 --> 00:30:40.099 be wings for us. The only way we will find it 00:30:40.099 --> 00:30:42.680 sweeter than honey and more to be desired than 00:30:42.680 --> 00:30:46.160 gold. The only way it will be our meditation 00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:51.000 day and night and not suffocate us. The only 00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:55.130 way it will revive our souls. is to see it coming 00:30:55.130 --> 00:30:58.369 from a God who is love and who acts in love, 00:30:58.569 --> 00:31:02.109 who acts in compassion, and who saves us when 00:31:02.109 --> 00:31:06.009 we were slaves to sin, who gives of himself perfectly 00:31:06.009 --> 00:31:10.069 and completely his own life for ours, who goes 00:31:10.069 --> 00:31:12.589 to the cross and through the cross, the empty 00:31:12.589 --> 00:31:16.930 tomb to give us life. Let me pray. Lord, I pray 00:31:16.930 --> 00:31:19.329 that we would be those who desire to know your 00:31:19.329 --> 00:31:25.480 law, that that specifically the Ten Commandments 00:31:25.480 --> 00:31:28.180 would be something that we don't shirk off but 00:31:28.180 --> 00:31:31.180 put on because it is something given to us in 00:31:31.180 --> 00:31:36.400 grace and kindness, in love. God, I pray that 00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:41.640 we would be a people that eagerly seek to follow 00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:46.079 your ways. That we would so taste and see that 00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:49.259 you are good. that we would so know your love 00:31:49.259 --> 00:31:51.940 for us, that your words of invitation to us to 00:31:51.940 --> 00:31:55.220 live in such a certain way would not be burdensome, 00:31:55.400 --> 00:32:00.240 would not be distasteful, would not be something 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:02.440 that we are inclined to say, no, thank you, Lord, 00:32:02.460 --> 00:32:06.200 I'll do what I please. But God, that we would 00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:08.319 eagerly say, Lord, teach us your ways, that we 00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:13.039 might walk in them. God, that we might hear you, 00:32:13.099 --> 00:32:16.650 Lord Jesus, say, Take up your cross and follow 00:32:16.650 --> 00:32:20.769 me. Become fishers of men. God, that we might 00:32:20.769 --> 00:32:23.170 find a new way of walking, a new way of being 00:32:23.170 --> 00:32:28.529 as we follow you. Do this, please, Lord, and 00:32:28.529 --> 00:32:32.970 conform us into your beautiful image. Give us 00:32:32.970 --> 00:32:38.539 life. We pray. Amen. Thank you for listening 00:32:38.539 --> 00:32:41.319 to Second City Sermons podcast. We hope this 00:32:41.319 --> 00:32:43.319 sermon has encouraged you to worship God and 00:32:43.319 --> 00:32:46.160 to celebrate the gospel of Jesus. Please consider 00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:48.579 subscribing to this podcast and joining us in 00:32:48.579 --> 00:32:51.740 person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can find us 00:32:51.740 --> 00:32:55.079 online at secondcitychurch .org and on Instagram, 00:32:55.200 --> 00:32:57.759 Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks again for listening. 00:32:58.119 --> 00:32:58.680 God bless.