Let's open our Bibles to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. And let's pray. Father, it is our desire to trust and to obey and to grow in knowing you and to grow in understanding your word that we might be faithful. that we might walk in a manner worthy of you in every respect and in every situation. And so would you help us and would you teach us by your Spirit now that we might be built up and mature and build one another up to the measure of the stature which belongs to our precious Savior, your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. Inside your bulletin you'll see that there's notes It'll make sense in a little bit here, but for now, there's the outline on the front. We've entitled this message, Loyal to the Crown, the First Commandment's Royal Mandate. And we'll begin by looking at just a couple verses here in Romans chapter 12, tying back in with the previous weeks and building on what we've already laid down. Therefore, I exhort you, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a sacrifice, living, holy, and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual or logical service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect. Living sacrifice is an interesting term, isn't it? It's interesting because it's a contradiction in terms. Because a sacrifice is something that's offered up, that's not living. And so he's taking two ideas and bringing them together. Because if you sacrifice, whatever it is you've sacrificed that you give to God, what have you given? Everything. And so if you sacrifice yourself to God, what are you giving God? Everything. When Christ was sacrificed to God, what did he give? Everything. Body, soul, mind, heart, time, affections, everything. And what was that driving principle that motivates this loyal devotion It's love. It's love. Love is our mainspring. Love is what's behind all of our choosings. Love is what's behind all of our refusings, as we see with Moses in Hebrews 11. Love shapes our understanding. Love fashions our affections. There's no stronger force in the world than love. It was love that moved Satan to mutiny. It was love that excited Eve's heart to eat that fruit. It was love that drove Adam's rebellion. And it was love that energized Cain as he murdered his brother Abel. It's not entirely precise to say, that person lacks love. Though we do use that phrase, and when we say that, what we often mean is, we don't share the same object. It doesn't mean that that person doesn't have that affection, because that's what's driving them to do what they're doing. Their love is just fixed on a different object. The problem is, mankind is born in sin. Each one of us is born with the ability and capacity to love. But each of us is also born hating the authority of God. But through regeneration, the redeemed in Christ are made new creatures with a new heart, new eyes of the heart, with a renewed understanding and new affections, with freedom from sin and even hatred for sin, because now we have love for God. He loved us. And we love because he first loved us. And as we've been looking at this law, we've recognized that it's not a legalistic set of rules. If we think, if you're here today and you think law keeping is legalism, then that's really bad news because there's no hope at all for anyone. Because legalism is a sin. And Jesus kept the law perfectly. So if that's your definition of legalism, then Jesus was a legalist. Which would then mean, in your worldview, that Jesus sinned. How can he be the perfect spotless lamb with that sin? So there's some misunderstanding that we've picked up, inherited, bought into, borrowed convictions that we've had from over the years. The law is not a legalistic set of rules. The Bible doesn't present it that way. It's a Father's loving command. It's a Father's loving command, and it begins in our new hearts, in the new covenant, when he writes his law on our heart. And this is one of the reasons why it says in Proverbs 4 23, that we are to guard our hearts. Because out of our heart flow the springs of life. And since we're in Romans 12, remember, we saw that in verse nine, he starts talking about love. And then when we go to chapter 13, verse eight, as he's bookending this little section on government, owe nothing to anyone except to love one another. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet. We recognize we get those from the Ten Commandments. And if there's any other commandment, it is summed up in this word. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does not work evil against a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. Love is what's holding everything up. Everything is hanging on this. Love to God, love to neighbor. Reflective of those two tables of the law. One through four, five through 10. We learned last week that love is identical to lawful obedience. The law is good if one knows how to use it lawfully. It's not a means by which we can be justified. That's not using the law lawfully. But love is identical with lawful obedience. Even as Caleb read for us, here's some other passages. John 14, 15. Jesus says, if you love me, Then you will keep my commandments. John 14, 21. He who has my commandments and keeps them. Is the one who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my father and I will love him and will disclose myself to him. First John 5, two and three. By this we know that we love the children of God. How do we know? How do I know if I'm loving my brother? When we love God and do His commandments, for this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments and that His commandments are not burdensome. To the Christian, it is a joyful path that we have to run. It's not a list of things that I can't do that I want to do, or things that I have to do that I don't want to do. It's a pathway. When we used to live in battleground, sometimes I'd let the grass get really high in a big backyard, let it get really high, and then I would take the lawnmower and I would just mow out a crazy track design for the kids to run in, in between the grass. Didn't make for a good look, But it was a lot of fun for the kids. And the way that they looked at that path that was laid out for them, and staying in those lines, is the way the Christian is to be looking at the law of God. This is exciting. There's boundaries, there's a path, there's a direction. And so, Before we get in to looking at the first of the Ten Commandments, I want to remind us of our second point here, general rules for interpreting the law, because we want to keep these in the front of our mind as we're walking through. Number one, the law is spiritual. Romans 7.14, it's pertaining to the spirit. It's sourced from the spirit. The law comes from and reflects the nature of the lawgiver himself. Remember, Yahweh doesn't have fleshly limited eyes. Psalm 50 says, His eyelids test the sons of men. He looks beyond the external and into the thoughts and intentions of the heart. He knew Saul was going to be a horrible king. It's what the people wanted. He knew David would be a great king, and Samuel didn't even look at him. Second, the law, therefore, is aimed at the heart of man. Our Lord commands not only outward actions, but inward affections, even as we read from Deuteronomy 6. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. We also see that God's law forbids not just the act of sin, this is where you would get into more of the legalism aspect, but the desire is forbidden, the inclination, the love of sin, the meditating on sin. In negative precepts, the righteous counterpart is also commanded. Thou shalt not, thou shalt. In positive precepts, the sinful counterpart is also forbidden. So thou shalt, thou shalt not. So built into you shall not murder is contained, you shall prize, value, love, life. And built into honor your father and mother is contained, you shall not wrong them. Number four, the law contains synecdoche in precepts. Remember, that's a figure of speech where you're taking a part to represent a whole or a whole to represent a part. And so in all the commandments, we should recognize that where one specific example is given, it represents all things in that same category. So when one sin is forbidden, similar sins and anything that leads to them is also forbidden. So it's not just adultery that's sinful, even though that's one of the Ten Commandments. It's also bestiality and homosexuality. It's also lust. Anything outside proper marital relations is sinful. Or if we looked at the Sixth Commandment, which we will in a few weeks, it's not just murder that's sinful, it's personal revenge of any kind. Personal anger is also sinful. Under the phrase parents is to be understood not just parents, but leaders, pastors, magistrates, masters, teachers, or prophets, priests, and kings, as we'll see when we get to that. Number five, in relationships, the counterpart is also implied. So honor your father and mother also has built into it that parents are to love, instruct, and provide for their children. Number six, the first table takes priority over the second table. And we'll see why with the first commandment. But also, you can't love your neighbor right. This is one thing that you've probably seen a lot online with all the illegal immigrants that they've been shipping over into our borders, into our country to try and disassemble our country. Oh, Christian, you're supposed to love your neighbor. Christian, you're supposed to love your neighbor. which for them is akin to love is love. There's nothing behind it other than just using that word, not giving a proper definition or understanding of it, to push through an ideology that that person already has that's wicked. You can't love your neighbor unless you're first loving God. Otherwise, what you're doing to your neighbor is not love but hatred. And we just read, what is the test of loving one's brother? 1 John 5, 2, 7, 1 Timothy 1, 5, from a pure heart and a good conscience and an unhypocritical faith. And then what we saw here in Romans 13, 10, love does not work evil against a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. And so with these general rules in mind, let's examine the law. Heading number three, command one. Let's look at Exodus 20, verse three. Then God spoke all these words saying, I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. So which comes first, the giving of the law or redemption? Redemption. Redemption comes first by pure grace and then the giving of the law. You shall have no other gods before me. This is first, This is fundamental, it is foundational, it is absolute. So let's break it down. You. You ever wonder how it's thou shalt not? Well, that's Old English. But Old English was actually really helpful because in our older English, we had singular and plural second person pronouns. What does that mean? We knew how to say you for one person or you for more than one person. And here we like to say you or y'all, but sometimes we use you for plural. And in the South, sometimes they use y'all for one person. This you is singular. Which is interesting if you think about it, because it's being spoken to a whole nation. So shouldn't it be plural? No. Because it's personal. It's individual. It's meant to be intimate. It's meant for each one of us to reflect and look at ourselves and recognize that I, as an individual, first and foremost, am responsible. The negative aspect here is actually emphatic. There is never to be for you. You shall never have. The word have isn't here. In a sense, it's implied, but I'll give you a really rough, very close to wooden literal translation in a moment. But before me, how many of us have read that and thought, oh, like in front of me, like in line? So we wouldn't ever say, yeah, you can have other gods, but it is really weird that he says, you shall not have any other gods before me. Because it does kind of leave open the possibility that you could have other gods just as long as you remember to keep Yahweh first. But it actually is up to my face with the sense of in my presence. That's very different. So it would read something like, there is never to be for you other gods in my presence. This is the foremost principle and the foundation. Not even one. Not even one other god. In any sense of which, anything could be taken to be, to represent as, or function as a god. So what is meant by and included in my face and my presence? As far as Yahweh can see, in the heavens or on the earth, with your hands or with your heart, with your matter or with your mind, not one other God ever. The whole law, you recall from last week, must be fulfilled by the whole man. What is meant by and included in other gods? Anything in our lives that occupies what is uniquely belonging to God in any sense. So we know that obviously this involves at least worship, service, we saw Romans 12.1, your spiritual service of worship, authority, lordship, And we also have help from Jesus in that the two greatest commandments have to do with what? Love. In fact, this is what we would expect. Love. And that wasn't unique to Jesus. Even his contemporaries understood it, didn't they? Because in Mark 12, 32, when Jesus says, love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself, the scribe says, teacher, you have answered rightly. This was common knowledge at that time. But where did Jesus and everyone else get that idea from? Because it's not in these 10, at least not on their face. And this brings us to the divine pattern. Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter five. If you've been here at NBC for any length of time, then you understand that Deuteronomy is an exposition of the Ten Commandments. Among other things that are contained in it, there's a brief recounting of the history. It's written to and spoken to the second generation, because remember, everybody apart from Joshua and Caleb and their families that came out of the Exodus died in the wilderness, including Aaron and including Moses. That whole first generation died because of their disobedience. Hebrews makes a big point of driving this home. They did not enter because of unbelief. And how is unbelief defined in Hebrews? Disobedience. Disobedience is unbelief. And then we have in chapter five, we have these 10 commandments restated again. And then after that, up until you get to the blessings and the curses, it's an exposition of the 10 commandments. So it's taking these 10 truths, these 10 principles, and then applying them out in different situations, and filling them out even more. Because there's not a way that we're going to remember all 622 commands, or however many there are, but we can remember 10. And then from that, we can remember the principles associated with each one. And this is really important because we can't just wouldn'tly take over commands given to Israel and go, oh, okay, do not boil goat in its mother's milk. Got it. You ever wonder how Paul says, hey guys, you need to remember that you have an obligation to pay your pastor. And you know why? Because you don't muzzle the ox while it's threshing. And you go, oh, yeah, okay, that totally makes sense. I kind of see how that connects. Deuteronomy 5, 7. We'll start in verse 6. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. And where do we find this exposition of this first commandment? In chapter 6 through 11 of Deuteronomy. So he's saying, again, Yahweh is the first priority in all of life. Since he created and owns everything, and since he redeemed you from slavery. Now in their context, it was slavery in Egypt. In our context, It's slavery from sin. There's still redemption, there's still a law, and it's still the same God that does both. God's claim upon his people is twofold. By means of creation, he created and owns everything, even the people, Psalm 24, one and following. And then by means of redemption. God in love redeems his chosen people. And then the redeemed, in and from that love, Obey God, Deuteronomy 15, 15. And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you, therefore I am commanding you this day. But what about us for in the new covenant? Titus 2, 14. Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all lawlessness. and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works. What are good works? They're in accordance with the law. So let's look at this divine pattern and do a brief exposition of the first commandment. So let's look at Deuteronomy 6.1. And we're gonna ask and answer the question, how and why to live out the first commandment? How and why to live out the first commandment? We'll start with the how. Now this is the commandment, the statutes, the judgments, which Yahweh your God has commanded me to teach you that you might do it in the land where you are going over to possess it. So that, here's the purpose, you and your son and your grandson might fear Yahweh. Fear Yahweh your God to keep all his statutes and his commandments. So how do we do it? Number one, by fearing Yahweh. And then, keeping the commandments of Yahweh, as we saw in verse two, and you even see in verse three. Oh Israel, you shall listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as Yahweh the God of your fathers has promised you in a land flowing with milk and honey. We also need to know Yahweh. We need to know Yahweh. Verse four. Hear, O Israel, Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one. He is only one God. He is not composed of parts. This one is very straightforward. Verse five. By loving Yahweh, you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your, this is often translated strength or might. It's really an adverb, it's very. Very, with all your excess. It's talking about an intensification. With all your intensity. in any area, in any category, all of you, to the nth degree, for all of Him, and from what He provides. We are to obey Yahweh from the heart. Verse 6, these words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart, which is also one of the promises in the New Covenant, isn't it? My law shall be on your heart. I'm going to put my spirit within you, I'm going to write my law on your heart, and you're going to be careful to do my commandments. Verse 7, we're to make disciples of Yahweh. You shall teach them diligently to your sons. You shall speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, when you rise up. So it's not just talking about a structured, seated time of instruction. It goes beyond that. That has to be there, because there has to be some capital, some body of knowledge to pull from. But it's as you're living life throughout the day, taking every teaching opportunity that you can to point out the glory of God, the goodness of God, the faithfulness of God, the justice of God, the mighty works of God, the beauty in his creation that's reflective of his beauty. And we're to be devoted to Yahweh. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as phylacteries between your eyes, and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Bind them on your hand, and on your forehead. What do you think the mark of the beast is? Where does it go? On the hand and on the forehead. It's an allegiance and an ideology. And if you don't get in line with this allegiance and ideology, you're not going to be able to participate in the civil sphere very easily. But if you do participate in that allegiance and ideology of the mark of the beast, it's on your forehead and on your hand, then you're denying Yahweh. Because it's his law that is to be on your hand and your forehead, in your thoughts, all your thoughts, all your actions, all your choices, all your work, anything you put your hand to do. We are to serve Yahweh. Look at verse 13. Yahweh your God you shall fear and him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. Why? Look down at verse 23. He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers. So Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God for our good, all the days of our survival, life, all the days of our life. as it is today. And it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to do all this commandment before Yahweh our God, just as He commanded us. He rescued us. And for us, in the New Covenant context, Colossians 1 tells us He transferred us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son. He rescued us. Second also, Yahweh loves you and is faithful and is loyal. Look at chapter 7, verse 6. For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Does that sound familiar? Any New Testament passages you can think of that bring that up? 1 Peter is a really good one. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own treasured possession. That's also in 1 Peter chapter 1. Out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth, Yahweh did not set his affection on you, nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. So why did he choose? What's the underlying reason behind election? Verse eight. But because Yahweh loved you and kept the oath which he swore to your fathers, Yahweh brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery. in the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. You shall know therefore that Yahweh your God, he is God, the faithful God who keeps his covenant and his loving kindness, his loyal love to a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments. Yahweh is also just and powerful and jealous. Verse 10, but repays those who hate him to their faces to make them perish. He will not delay with him who hates him. He will repay him to his face. But he is also good and he is also sovereign. Look at Deuteronomy 10, verse 12. See how he's building and he's intertwining it and wrapping it all together for us. So now Israel, what does Yahweh your God ask from you? But to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in most of His ways, the ones you choose, no, all His ways, and love Him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of Yahweh and His statutes, which I am commanding you today for your pain, to make you miserable, for your good, Is that how you look upon the commands of God? Thank you, Lord, that you have given me this good law for my good. Behold, to Yahweh your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. Yet on your fathers did Yahweh set his affection to love them, and he chose their seat after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day. So circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no longer. For Yahweh your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the fearsome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows love for the sojourner by giving him food and clothing. So show love for the sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. Yahweh your God you shall fear, Him you shall serve, and to Him you shall cling, and by His name you shall swear. He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done these great and fearsome things for you which your eyes have seen, Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy persons in all, and now Yahweh your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven." Just as he said he would. So what does God require in the first commandment? Negatively, it would be not to allow anything to compete with Yahweh in your life. Never prioritize anything over your loyalty to Yahweh. And positively, be making Yahweh your exclusive priority in every aspect of your life. That He's at the center of everything that you do. He is the cornerstone of all your choices and all your actions. Yahweh should come first in all of our thoughts, all of our intentions, affections, pursuits, and decisions. And so if we just had to summarize it down, boil it down to one principle, it would be exclusive devotion to Yahweh. Exclusive devotion to Yahweh. So then the next question is, because remember last week we went over the principles for understanding, the rules for understanding the principles, and then the rules for obedience. How does this play out in real life? Could you maybe give me some more explanations so that it's not so general as exclusive devotion to Yahweh? Maybe even some examples? Let's start with this one. Keep your hand here in Deuteronomy and let's look over at Matthew chapter four. Matthew chapter four. All three of Satan's temptations were against Christ were seeking to get him to sin against the first commandment. Matthew 4, 3 and 4. The tempter came and said to him, if you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread. But he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. So hold on to Matthew 4 and look at Deuteronomy 8. Look at verse two. And you shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you in the wilderness these 40 years, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, so that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone. but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh. Your clothing didn't wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. Matthew 4, 5-7 Then the devil took him into the holy city, and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, again it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Deuteronomy 6. Verse 16. You shall not put Yahweh your God to the test as you tested him at Massa. Matthew 4, eight through 10. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, all these things I will give you if you fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, go Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only. And we see this in Deuteronomy 6.13 and 10.20. We'll go to 10.20. We just read it. Yahweh your God you shall fear, him you shall serve, and to him you shall cling, and by his name you shall swear. We didn't say him only. Why did Jesus say him only? Because Jesus knows this is an exposition of the first commandment. Notice how Satan also uses scripture. A piece here and a piece there. Not a fully formed doctrine, But something that's just taken on the surface could seem plausible, especially to the immature. Well, this verse says this. I'm not supposed to do that. But you've got to have the whole body of doctrine. to understand. So let's begin this path of following after Jesus and applying the word. And let's look at applied Christian ethics. Applied Christian ethics. And if you remember, we have to have, number one, biblical principles, number two, factual observations of reality, and then number three, cogent reasoning to tie it all together. I'll give you a bad example, and you can read these passages later. But do you remember when, in Luke chapter 9, when the Samaritans weren't being hospitable, and James and John got the name Sons of Thunder? Do you remember why they got that name? Because they asked the Lord, Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven? Now, is it wrong to call down fire from heaven to consume enemies? No. It's what Elijah did in 2 Kings chapter one. And those of you kiddos that are in homeschool co-op, that was our first chapel message. And that's what they're thinking about. There is a biblical principle for that. But did they have the factual observation of reality and the right reasoning to tie it together? No, they didn't. but they had a biblical principle. So let's apply the first commandment to the various facets of life. And let's start by asking two broad questions so that we can get two categories. What are the good works required of us in the first commandment? And then what are the sins forbidden in the first commandment? Remember, what's our principle? Exclusive, devotion to Yahweh. This is gonna help us get a feel for how to use biblical principles, and we'll start looking at factual observations and cogent reasoning. And guys, remember, you can do this. You can do this. God wants you to do this. God's equipped you to be able to do this. Some of the mightiest apostles were unlearned fishermen. Remember also that the commands build and then correlate with one another. And so things are going to get increasingly challenging over the next several weeks. So I want you to be diligent to practice at home and to keep it fresh in your mind. Because this isn't just some place where you check out for a few hours on Sunday and say, hey, I checked the box. This is doctrine for life. God expects us to live out the truth that we learn. We're called to keep a close watch on our life and our doctrine, because all of life is to be lived for the glory of God. Well, let's look at this first broad category, good works required. And we'll start with this, if you have your notes. On the front page, you will see a paragraph with a bunch of scripture verses underneath. This is from the Westminster Confession of Faith. This is question 104. What are the duties required in the First Commandment? And I wonder if we've ever thought through it in this much detail. Answer, the duties required in the First Commandment are the knowing and acknowledging of God to be the only true God and our God, and to worship and glorify Him accordingly by thinking, meditating, remembering, highly esteeming, honoring, adoring, choosing, loving, desiring, fearing of Him, believing Him, trusting, hoping, delighting, rejoicing in Him, being zealous for Him, calling upon Him, giving all praise and thanks, and yielding all obedience and submission to Him with the whole man, being careful in all things to please Him and sorrowful when in anything He is offended and walking humbly with Him. And so what does it start with? Well, number one, good works start with a right knowledge of God. There can't be any love to God without knowing him. There can be no true worship without right thoughts of him. We must know God in his unity and triunity. God must be known in his essential attributes, infinity, immensity, unchangeableness, eternity, omniscience, omnipotence, wisdom, goodness, justice, faithfulness. He must be known in spirit and in truth through his son, Jesus Christ. Remember, without faith, it is impossible to please God. And without knowledge, it's impossible to have faith. Second, there must be a proper acknowledging of God. If God is rightly known, then he is to be highly esteemed above everything else in our life. He's to be loved with an exclusive love, feared with an exclusive fear, believed and trusted in with an exclusive faith, hoped in with exclusive confidence, adored with exclusive adoration, honored with supreme and exclusive admiration, served and obeyed with exclusive uncompromising loyalty. He must be the supreme motivation and goal of all our thoughts, affections, and actions. No mixture. That's also why you get don't wear clothes with two different kinds of things mixed in. Third, there must be sacrificial service overflowing from devotion to truth. If God is truly known and acknowledged, then we will know our own depravity. We will know, when we know our own depravity, the riches of Christ's person. the power of His works on our behalf. And this is going to breed within us joyful dependence upon Him, continual submission, faith resting on Christ, prayers lifted up in earnest, repentance when we wrong Him, abiding desire for communion with Him, sustained hunger to continue walking with Him, an enduring delight in Him, and a steadfastness in meditation upon Him. So this first commandment requires no less than these three things, and in the most perfect degree, exercised by our person. And then not only for ourselves, but for all others in our life as well. In accordance with our times, our locations, our vocations, we have to be diligent to use all of the means that God's given us to advance these ends in every and all situations. Second category, sins forbidden. That's on the back page. I encourage you to read through that later. These are the sins forbidden in the first commandment and there's the scripture verses underneath so that you can look through it. And we'll just go broad category. Number one, the first one is what? Idolatry. Idolatry. And it is very easy for us to fall into this sin and to fall in repeatedly. We have to be diligent in examining our hearts, and our daily lives. So like when we sin, and we realize we've sinned, do we just quickly repent? Or do we search? Do we repent whilst trying to figure out, how did I get here? What are the steps that led up to me being here? What truth did I fail to believe? What lie did I believe? Where is the unbelief and the pride manifest in my life? For example, We commit idolatry when anything lawful or not has our respect or esteem so that our happiness is found in that object and we can't abide to lose it. This could be a spouse. This could be a child. It could be a house. It could be a job. We commit idolatry when anything lawful or not has our love and we cannot bear not having it. We just have to have it, like Ahab with Naboth's vineyard. When our confidence or trust is placed in anything other than Yahweh, such as money, magistrates, doctors, medicine, or any other creaturely thing, when our fear of men or events exceeds our fear of God, such as worrying about the future. When our service is not done to the glory of God, such as working for a paycheck or enjoying something apart from God, or the Pharisees, they're not doing it for the glory of God, they're doing it for the attention and the praise of man. When anything overcomes us so that we cast off our duties to Christ, like Demas did for pleasure, And like the priest Eli did with his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, for peace in the home. We commit idolatry when we are lukewarm. We're breaking the first commandment when we're lukewarm. Because there's something other than Yahweh that has the better part of our affections. When we are ignorant of knowing God, In some, idolatry is having or inventing anything in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the one true God. Another sin forbidden is false religions, which is obvious, you'd think, right? So, Islam, Buddhism, all of these false religions, and then underneath that would be heresies. Arianism, that Jesus Christ is not God. Pelagianism. Man is basically good and has everything within him that he needs to be able to come to God. Docetism. Jesus Christ didn't really come in the flesh. He only appeared to come in the flesh, and you keep going. And then superstitions. Oh, knock on wood. Superstitions are leftover remnants of paganism from a conquered Christian area. They keep them in there. You know why you put a horseshoe over your house? Over your front door? You know where that comes from? Keeps the witches out. It's a superstition in England. I don't think anybody that has a horseshoe over their door, that's what they're thinking today. It means abstaining from diviners, mediums, fortune tellers, and a whole slew of other supernaturalists. So with a sampling of just how this biblical principle applies to various areas of life, let's get a little more specific and let's ask some more complex questions. Again, Christian ethics. One, biblical principle. Two, factual observation of reality. Three, cogent reasoning, tying it all together. We are to be separated under this first commandment from all common religious ventures with unbelievers, professing believers, professing unbelievers, or otherwise. And we see this in 2 Corinthians 6. 2 Corinthians 6.8. This won't be news to most of us. Or 14, excuse me. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has a sanctuary of God with idols? For we are a sanctuary of the living God, just as God said, I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean, and I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness, in the fear of God. No false gods. No participation with practitioners of false religion. Because worship is more than just liturgy. Worship is more than just what we do on Sunday. Worship is a lifestyle. Worship is service. Romans 12, 1. We are living sacrifices. And if there's any place in our life where we are not serving God with the whole heart we are violating the first commandment. Because we're serving someone. We're serving something. We may not immediately know what it is, but that doesn't mean that we're not committing that sin against the first commandment and the God who gave it to us. Worship is all of life, and all sin is idolatry. So let's look at five categories. Five categories. I listed them there for you. Occult, secret society, public schools, denominations, cultural and redemptive mandate. I picked the non-controversial ones, just so you know. Just kidding. Number one, occult. Did you know that most martial arts, kung fu, karate, Taekwondo, have a spiritual root and element built into them so that they're inseparable. Yoga. You know what yoga means? Yoke. Jesus says, take my yoke upon you. It's interesting that in Islam, they see right through it. There was a group of Muslims that wanted to take on yoga, and they were sharia-lawed out. It wasn't acceptable, because they saw it. They knew that it was a spiritual reality. Now, are we talking about the stretches? No, but if you're going to a place to go do yoga, you're participating in the occult. because it can't be separated. If you're doing certain stretches at home, and they happen to be the same stretches, okay. But you can't go practice yoga without taking into account that there's a cult in that, there's a spiritual element to that. Would you go to a barbecue down with your unbelieving neighbor's house A Molech party? But you'd go to yoga. That doesn't make any sense. You've been had by the culture. And as a side note, why do we live in a society with all this error? Because we haven't been faithful in our cultural and redemptive mandates. Consider what other portions of the law have to say about this. Leviticus 19.31. Do not turn to mediums or spiritists. Do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God. Leviticus 20.6 and 7. As for the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to play the harlot after them, I will also set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. Therefore, you shall set yourselves apart as holy and be holy for I am Yahweh your God. Leviticus 20 verse 7, now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones. Their blood guiltiness is upon them. Now keep in mind, it doesn't mean that there's no truth in any of these or spoken by these practitioners. That's not the point. It's not about pragmatics. It's about exclusive love and loyalty and worship. Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, does that mean we should trust him? No. Look at Deuteronomy, you can note it down, I'll read it to you. Deuteronomy 18, verses 9 to 14. When you enter the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations, that word is not thrown around lightly, of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire." And I think by this point we see that clearly, but notice what else is linked to that. Pass through the fire, one who uses divination one who practices soothsaying, or one who interprets omens as a sorcerer or a sorcerer, or one who's an enchanter or a medium or a spiritist, or one who inquires of the dead. For whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh, and because of these abominations, Yahweh your God will dispossess them from before you. You shall be blameless before Yahweh your God. For those nations which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice soothsaying and to diviners. But as for you, Yahweh your God has not allowed you to do so." Notice that from Yahweh's perspective, all these sins of the occult are equal to child sacrifice in his eyes. Are they to us? This is not exhaustive. But I've never seen anything weird when I go to karate practice. So your ignorance makes it permissible? Secret societies about Freemasons. It's not just a fraternal order. I hope you know that. It's a religion. Christians cannot be part of secret societies. because there are darkness aspects in this world that we are commanded to bring to light when we know about them. And so we can't have a conflicting allegiance. This is what they believe. First, it possesses a dogma concerning God, the Masonic God, T-G-A-O-T-U, the great architect of the universe. He subsumes various deities of its initiates. He is addressed, he is prayed to, he is relied upon. Second, the lodge possesses a dogma about the immortality of the soul and life after death. It defines the soul and promises in its burial and memorial services that the soul of a departed brother is in the presence of God, regardless of whether he believed in Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Brahman, Allah, or Confucius. So can I join an organization that does a common good, some kind of philanthropy, but for the purpose of promoting a false message? Could I partner to do religious morality, like feed the homeless with these people? We feed the homeless because we believe man is God. Therefore, man has value. Do we agree that man has value? Do we agree that we should be doing good works to feed the poor? But could we partner with them to do that? No, we couldn't. It would be breaking the first commandment. We cannot partner with a secret society. And then here's really where people get bothered and have for a long time. Public schools. Technically, in one sense, Even private Christian schools are public schools because they're open to the public. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Why do you send your kids to school? To gain what? To gain knowledge. What's the beginning of knowledge? The fear of the Lord. Do you believe that? Why do you send your kids to school? To gain knowledge. Deuteronomy 6-7 that we read earlier, you are to teach these things diligently to your children all throughout the day. It begins with the fear of the Lord, includes all the day long, and it's from God's revelation, from his own mouth. So biblically, I would wanna know, where do you find a positive argument that it's okay to put your children in a setting where they will learn things that don't honor the Lord? I'm not asking you to go through the economic argument or this argument, I'm asking you to give me a positive argument why it's okay, why you did it in the first place, why you thought this is a viable path to choose to begin with. From the perspective of those that don't fear the Lord, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, it's from that person's perspective that doesn't fear the Lord, but actually hates him, that's teaching your child knowledge. And remember, there's no such thing as neutrality, right? Neutrality is a myth. God calls for commitment to him in every area of life. Math, history, science, all of these have to be taught with an absolute standard. Do they not? We're seeing what happens the further you move away from that absolute standard. 2 plus 2 equals 4 is racist white supremacy. Because they don't have an absolute standard. The problem with the humanistic secularism that we see today is they both believe in facts and moral relativism. So some things are concrete and some things are relative. But who's picking and choosing what's concrete and what's relative? The gods are. The gods of that religion are doing that. Because remember, it's a religion. Math, history, science have to be taught with an absolute standard, God's absolute standard, built on God's revealed presuppositions. And when Christians' distinctives and presuppositions are suppressed, and they're demanding for neutrality, when they're not even being neutral? Or worse, these presuppositions are attacked? You have a child being taught subjects that hinge upon the one true God in a setting by a person with a vitriolic refusal to see the world in light of God's word, even though God's given that person enough to hang themself with, says Romans 1. And this is breaking the first commandment. And this is what Romans 1 says, they refuse to acknowledge him as God. Not just in church, but life. And remember, public school isn't free. In one slim sliver of a sense, it is. But in the whole of your life, and in the soul of the individual that you're sending, it's not free. The first commandment, the principle is exclusive devotion to Yahweh. No other gods in my presence. Do you agree with that? So why then is it okay if it's my children? In the presence of my children, that's okay. My children can have other gods before Yahweh. I'll teach them not to, but then I'll send them to functionally do what I'm teaching them not to do. And I'll just say, do as I say, not as I do, because that always goes well. Now, if this bothers you, good. This should bother you. Let's stay and let's talk about this after. As John said, write down your questions. Let's go over them. And before you bring up all the common objections and questions, please do this, because this is what I'm going to ask. Ask yourself, what biblical passages and principles did I use to think through this issue? Don't come assuming it's right and then trying to defend it. Come and prove it's right. What was motivating me to make this decision? The glory and honor of Jesus Christ or something else? So does your child's education honor God? then let's talk, or you can run away in sulk and bitterness. Now, there is a point at which all our children will have to engage with the world and in the world. We're not hermits. And when that time comes, and it's going to be different for each child and for each family, but you actually have to think through this and not just go, oh, it's okay sometimes, so it's okay for me now. Your child should be grounded in the fear of Yahweh. Your child should be able to defend the faith. Your child should be able to read and understand the Bible for himself or herself, and be able to apply the Bible to their life and to situations. Your child should be able to identify sin and righteousness, truth and falsehood, and be a Berean who tests everything according to the standard God gave in this book. Number four, denominations. Should there be denominations? Yes and no. We live in a sin-filled world, and if there's unceasing, unrepentant, moral or doctrinal heresy in a church, separation is necessary. But the morality and doctrine isn't just up for our feelings, they're standards. There's quality control built into scripture, and there's a process. It's not just our perceived understanding of one passage or another using the scripture like Satan does. Well, this verse says this. I'll give you an example. Consider the following action. Intentionally spitting in someone else's face. Intentionally spitting in someone else's face. That's pretty vulgar, wouldn't you say? Now, if you had to put that into words, Instead of spitting, words had to be used to convey that same feeling. What would those words be? Cotton-headed ninny-muggins? Something worse. Something more vulgar. Maybe something similar to an ad that a college ran recently. Now I want you to consider that in the law of God, there's a time and a place where it was required to spit in someone's face. And there's a time and a place where Yahweh rebukes for not having done that. The point being, don't be too quick in your zeal and ignorance to jump to rash conclusions. Now are Christians required to be faithful members of a local church? Yes. Are Christians allowed to knowingly have unbelieving elders? No. So Christians must leave apostate churches. Number five, cultural and redemptive mandate. Can I cooperate with professing Christians for righteous causes, such as Roman Catholics on abortion or Armenians on evangelism? Remember, not having fellowship with that we saw from 2 Corinthians 6 doesn't mean no contact with, no social contact. Those aren't the same things. Christians can make a common cause for righteous ends provided there's no compromise in doing so. And cooperation does not always equal compromise. Could a Christian work side by side with a Roman Catholic for the purpose of abortion? Yes, they could. But it depends, every situation's gonna be different, and you really gotta get down, this is where the details matter, and you can't compromise in any way. There's going to be degrees of involvement. Can a Christian partner with an Arminian for evangelism? In many cases, no. because the gospel's going to be different. In many cases, that would be compromise. You're not saying that person's not a brother, but you wouldn't ordain someone with that kind of doctrine in your church. And you're going on a spiritual mission together of evangelism with fundamentally different doctrine. that each situation must be carefully analyzed and thought through using biblical principles. And we can't become legalistic on this. We have to follow the law, but we also have to remember that love is the fulfilling of the law. But in our rebellion and in our culture, what do we do? We tend to view authority negatively. Right? Unless it's our own authority. We're not going to obey that law. But in my house, I expect my rules to be obeyed. We need to meditate on a biblical view of authority. This is our last point, affectionate authority. Affectionate authority. And what I want us to get from this is that authority authorizes. Authority authorizes. And we have to wholeheartedly reject that idea that authority primarily restrains. Authority is a restraint, to be sure, but it's not primarily restraining. Primarily, it's granting true freedom. The authority of a driver's license doesn't primarily command me to go to this place or that. It doesn't primarily restrain my speed. A driver's license authorizes me to drive my vehicle where I want, when I want. There are still rules, there are still boundaries, but primarily, it authorizes me. Think of Christ, our Savior. Would we not say He was free because He came to do His Father's will? Well, he came to do his father's will, so he wasn't free. The Pelagian and Arminian view of free will, which most professing Christians hold today, has greatly affected this. And it doesn't come from the Bible, it comes from Greek philosophy, Epicurean philosophy, where hedonism comes from. And you take that and you mix in some modern-day antinomianism, and you've got a really good recipe for apostasy. True freedom, biblical freedom, is freedom from Satan's domain, freedom from sin's penalty, and freedom from sin's power, as we've seen in Romans 6, especially verses 22 and 23. We're free to obey. We're no longer slaves of sin, but we're slaves of righteousness. It's not as if God doesn't exist anymore and there's no authority whatsoever, but the shackles of sin are gone, and now we're bound with cords of love. We're still slaves, but our master is infinitely and comparably better. We are to be a living sacrifice, a living sacrifice. That means we give everything. Consider the delight and desire of Christ. Psalm 40, verse eight. As Hebrews says, this is of Christ. I desire to do your will, oh my God. Your law is within my inner being. Consider the desire and delight of Paul in Romans 7. For I hedonistically agree with the law of God in the inner man. The desire and delight of God's people. Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. and the desire and delight of us in light of the new covenant. And by this we know that we've come to know him if we keep his commandments. The one who says, I've come to know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word truly in him, the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him The one who says he abides in him is obligated himself to walk in the same manner he walked. Amen? Let's pray. Father, we thank you. for your word, and I thank you, Lord, for the beginning of this journey that you've led us to, to seek and to understand your law, that we might live before your face in a way that brings you honor and glory, that we would live with exclusive devotion to you in every area of our life. Lord, cause us to be diligent and to do that hard hard work that is coming up this day and throughout the day, as we examine ourselves in our lives to make adjustments. Lord, may we do it according to your word. May none of it be a knee-jerk reaction. May it be done with prayer and meditation, according to your word, and even seeking counsel from one another and from those that are mature. Lord, we desire to be living sacrifices, and to be a fragrant aroma of Christ in every area of our life, and so help us. We can't do this in our own strength. Let us not even try. Let us labor with the strength that you provide, and with the end that we might glorify your great name. In Christ we pray, amen.