The Message of the Bible Today

A Sermon on Exodus 20:1-26

Originally preached Nov. 27, 1955

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Scripture

Exodus 20:1-26 ESV KJV

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD 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. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything … And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD 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. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. And the LORD said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’ (ESV)

1And God spake all these words, saying, 2I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

12¶ Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 13Thou shalt not kill. 14Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15Thou shalt not steal. 16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

18¶ And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. 19And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 21And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

22¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

24¶ An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. 25And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. 26Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

Sermon Description

Humans are unable to live in right relationship with one another because they are not in right relationship with God. In this sermon from Exodus 20:1–26 titled “The Message of the Bible Today,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows that at every opportunity throughout Scripture, humanity failed to dwell in obedience to God. Adam, Noah, Abraham—they all failed. Even when God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments, they were unable to live in obedience. Scripture highlights God’s holiness and the depravity of sin in humanity with the sole purpose of turning people’s eyes to Jesus Christ. The greatest need is to live in right relationship with God and this is accomplished because sins were punished in Christ. Dr. Lloyd-Jones asks, “has the law of God brought you to Christ?” When one considers the state of humanity and their inability to live in obedience, Dr. Lloyd-Jones encourages turning to the character of God and the gift of His Son.

Sermon Breakdown

The supreme thing in life is to be in a right relationship with God.
God first, man second. The order is absolutely vital.
The modern world proves the case of the Bible to the very hilt. More and more during the last hundred years, and especially in this century, man has been trying to live entirely apart from God.
History proves invariably that when mankind does honor God, its human relationships solve themselves.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If I look at myself and look at other men and women apart from God, what is it? Well, it's this. I set myself up as a God, and they do the same. I want everything for myself. So do they. And the result is clashes. Inevitably, we both want the same thing. Therefore we fight and quarrel.
God revealed himself as the all powerful and the eternal God.
God revealed his holiness. He is a holy God. We can't conceive of it.
God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
God revealed that he is the judge, eternal visiting.
God tells us what he demands of us and he tells us first of all what he demands of us as regards himself.
Thou shalt have no other gods beside me. He is the only God.
Neither must we make any graven image.
We are not to take his name in vain.
We are not to take his day in vain either,
In the second table, he tells us about our relationship to one another.
Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother.
Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit murder.
Thou shalt not commit adultery,
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.
God gave all this in order to teach us something else. Which is this, that we can never carry all this out.
The law, says the Lord Jesus Christ is this, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind and all thy strength. Have you done it?
For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. The law is perfect. Yes, but show me the men who can keep it.
God's demands must be satisfied. God's law must be fulfilled.
God has sent his only son from heaven to earth. He took on the likeness of human flesh, and as a man, he kept it absolutely.
My sins were punished in Christ. And God therefore can justly forgive me.
The ten Commandments tell us that that was the only way in which even God can forgive sin.
God must be just. God must keep his character. God must punish sin. God has punished sin.
This law drives me to Christ. I have forgiveness in him and in him alone.
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit, still in Christ, you see, it is all in Christ.
Christ makes one new men. He abolishes the enmity. He breaks down the middle wall of partition.
Has the law of God brought you to Christ? If it hasn't, nothing else will. And until you see its meaning and its message, you remain in your sins and under the wrath of God.

Sermon Q&A

What Is the Main Message of the Ten Commandments According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?

According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in his sermon on Exodus 20, the main message of the Ten Commandments is to reveal our relationship with God and how we should live in light of that relationship. The commandments show that:

The supreme thing in life is to be in a right relationship with God
We cannot keep the law perfectly by our own efforts
The law ultimately drives us to Christ for salvation

What does Lloyd-Jones identify as the two tables of the law?

In his sermon, Lloyd-Jones explains that the Ten Commandments are divided into two sections, often called "tables":

"The Ten Commandments can be divided up perfectly in that way into two sections. We generally refer to them, don't we, as the two tables of the law. The first table has reference to our attitude towards and our relationship to God. The second has reference to our attitude towards and our relationship towards our fellow men and women."

This division follows Jesus' own summary of the law: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind and all thy strength... And the second is likened to it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Why does Lloyd-Jones say the order of the commandments is important?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that the order of the commandments is crucial because:

"The first table must come before the second. I say once more that history proves this absolutely. And the whole tragedy of the world in sin this evening is that men and women are trying to solve the problems of the world by dealing only with the second table."

He argues that people cannot truly love their neighbors properly without first being in right relationship with God. When we try to solve human relationship problems without addressing our relationship with God, we will always fail.

What does Lloyd-Jones say about the purpose of the law?

According to Lloyd-Jones, God gave the law for several purposes:

To reveal Himself as "the all powerful and the eternal God"
To show what He demands from humans, both regarding Himself and our relationships with others
To teach us that we cannot perfectly keep the law by our own efforts
To demonstrate "the exceeding sinfulness of sin"
To function as "our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ"

He explains: "He gave the law in order to convince everybody that without Christ, they're absolutely lost and hopeless and doomed."

How does Lloyd-Jones connect the Ten Commandments to Christ?

Lloyd-Jones shows that the Ten Commandments ultimately point us to Christ because:

God's law must be fulfilled, but we cannot fulfill it
Christ kept the law perfectly on our behalf
Our sins against the law need forgiveness that only Christ can provide
Christ bore the punishment for our sins on the cross
Christ gives us a new nature that enables us to begin fulfilling "the righteousness of the law"

As Lloyd-Jones states: "Has the law of God brought you to Christ? If it hasn't, nothing else will. And until you see its meaning and its message, you remain in your sins and under the wrath of God."

Old Testament

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.

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