Understanding God's Laws: Love, Protection, and Redemption

### Bible Reading
1. **Exodus 21:1-2**: "These are the laws you are to set before them: If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything."
2. **Psalm 119:97-99**: "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes."
3. **Galatians 3:23-25**: "Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith."

### Observation Questions
1. What is the significance of the seventh year for a Hebrew servant according to Exodus 21:1-2?
2. How does the Psalmist describe his relationship with God's law in Psalm 119:97-99?
3. According to Galatians 3:23-25, what role did the law serve before the coming of faith in Christ?
4. In the sermon, what were some examples of peculiar laws in the United States mentioned to illustrate the historical and cultural context of laws? [30:34]

### Interpretation Questions
1. Why do you think God set a specific time limit for Hebrew servants to be set free in the seventh year? How does this reflect His character? [56:47]
2. How does meditating on God's law, as described in Psalm 119, contribute to a deeper understanding and appreciation of His commandments?
3. What does it mean that the law was a "guardian" until Christ came, according to Galatians 3:23-25? How does this concept help us understand the purpose of the Old Testament laws?
4. The sermon mentioned that God's laws are rooted in His character and designed for our good. How does this understanding affect our willingness to follow His commandments, even when they seem restrictive? [49:14]

### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you found one of God's commandments difficult to understand or follow. How did you respond, and what did you learn from that experience? [40:14]
2. The sermon emphasized that God's laws are meant to protect the vulnerable. Can you identify a situation in your life where you can advocate for or protect someone who is vulnerable? [56:26]
3. How can you cultivate a habit of meditating on God's law daily, as the Psalmist did in Psalm 119:97-99? What practical steps can you take to make this a regular part of your routine?
4. The sermon concluded with an invitation to faith and repentance. If you have strayed from your faith, what steps can you take this week to recommit your life to Christ? [01:06:57]
5. Consider the idea that God's laws point us to Jesus. How does this perspective change the way you read and apply Old Testament laws in your life today? [59:11]
6. The sermon mentioned that understanding God's heart helps us trust His laws. How can you deepen your understanding of God's heart and character in your daily walk with Him? [49:14]
7. Think about a specific commandment or teaching of Jesus that you find challenging. How can you seek to understand its purpose and apply it in your life, trusting that it is for your good and God's glory? [35:20]

1. "God's laws come from His character. Everything He does is for the healing of the brokenness that came with sin."


2. "When you know the depth of the love God has for you, it's easier to be more submissive, even to those things you don't understand."


3. "God's intention is to give you the best life as He designed life to be. The Creator knows best how life should be lived."


4. "The law was our guardian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. Now, in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God through faith."


5. "God's laws are designed to lead us to Jesus. They point to the Savior who delivers us from the bondage and slavery to sin."


6. "We need to stop looking at the law as somehow restricting us and start welcoming it as something that protects and cares for us."


7. "God's plan is for His glory and for our good. We can trust His plan because we know we can trust His character."


8. "The blood of Jesus is still just as powerful to cleanse and restore you in your relationship today."


9. "God's laws are intended to protect the vulnerable in society. They come from a heart of love and care for His people."


10. "In Christ, we are clothed with His righteousness. Only in Christ can we stand righteous before a holy God."

Day 1: Understanding God's Laws
God's laws can be challenging to understand, but they are rooted in His character and designed for our good. They require us to dig deeper into their historical and cultural contexts to fully grasp their meaning and purpose. This deeper understanding helps us appreciate the wisdom and care behind God's instructions. God's laws are not arbitrary; they are a reflection of His divine wisdom and love for humanity. By studying these laws, we can gain insight into God's nature and His intentions for our lives.

Understanding the historical and cultural context of these laws can be enlightening. For example, some laws may seem peculiar or outdated to us today, but they were given to guide a newly freed people who had no experience in self-governance. By delving into the context, we can see how these laws were designed to bring order, justice, and compassion to society. This understanding helps us trust in God's wisdom and submit to His guidance, even when we don't fully comprehend the reasons behind certain commandments. [40:14]

Deuteronomy 4:5-6 (ESV): "See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'"

Reflection: Think of a specific law or commandment from the Bible that you find difficult to understand. How can you seek to understand its historical and cultural context to gain a deeper appreciation for its purpose?


Day 2: God's Laws Reflect His Heart
The laws given to Israel were not arbitrary but came from God's heart of love and care for His people. They were designed to guide a newly freed people who had no experience in self-governance. Understanding God's heart helps us trust His laws, even when they seem restrictive. God's laws are a reflection of His character and His desire for the well-being of His people.

These laws were given to a people who had just been liberated from slavery and needed guidance on how to live in freedom. God's heart is revealed in these laws as He seeks to protect, provide for, and guide His people. By understanding the loving intentions behind these laws, we can see that they are not meant to be burdensome but are given for our benefit and flourishing. [49:14]

Psalm 19:7-8 (ESV): "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes."

Reflection: Reflect on a time when you felt restricted by a commandment or rule. How can understanding God's loving intentions behind His laws change your perspective on obedience?


Day 3: Protection of the Vulnerable
Many of God's laws were specifically designed to protect the vulnerable in society. For instance, the laws about servants and the prohibition against kidnapping highlight God's concern for justice and protection for those who are easily exploited. This reflects God's character as a protector and provider. God's laws demonstrate His deep concern for the marginalized and vulnerable members of society.

These laws were given to ensure that justice and compassion were upheld, especially for those who were at risk of being mistreated or overlooked. By protecting the vulnerable, God's laws reveal His heart for justice and His desire for a society where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. [56:26]

Isaiah 1:17 (ESV): "Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."

Reflection: Identify a vulnerable group or individual in your community. How can you take specific actions to protect and support them, reflecting God's heart for justice and compassion?


Day 4: Laws Pointing to Jesus
The laws and sacrificial system in the Old Testament were designed to lead us to Jesus. They served as a guardian until Christ came, highlighting our need for a Savior. The blood sacrifices foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, whose blood brings true forgiveness and reconciliation with God. The Old Testament laws and sacrificial system were not an end in themselves but pointed forward to the coming of Christ.

These laws highlighted humanity's need for a Savior and prepared the way for Jesus' ultimate sacrifice. The sacrificial system, with its emphasis on the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins, foreshadowed the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, who offered Himself once for all. By understanding this connection, we can see how the entire biblical narrative points to Jesus and God's plan for redemption. [59:11]

Galatians 3:24-25 (ESV): "So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian."

Reflection: How does understanding the connection between the Old Testament laws and Jesus' sacrifice deepen your appreciation for God's plan of salvation? How can this understanding impact your daily walk with Christ?


Day 5: Invitation to Faith and Repentance
The sermon concluded with an invitation for those who have not yet professed their faith in Jesus to do so. It also called for those who have strayed to recommit their lives to Christ. God's love and forgiveness are always available, and His laws are meant to guide us into a deeper relationship with Him. God's invitation to faith and repentance is a call to experience His love and forgiveness.

No matter where we are in our spiritual journey, God is always ready to welcome us back into His arms. His laws are not just rules to follow but are meant to lead us into a deeper relationship with Him. By responding to this invitation, we can experience the fullness of God's grace and the transformative power of His love. [01:06:57]

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (ESV): "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Reflection: If you have not yet professed your faith in Jesus, what is holding you back? If you have strayed, what steps can you take today to recommit your life to Christ and experience His love and forgiveness anew?

Amen.

Welcome again, everyone. We're so glad to have you with us today. Welcome to Smyrna Campus. We love you guys. Glad you're connected there. Everyone that's connecting with us online, we're happy to have that connection with you also.

Today, we have a special guest back with us. We're very excited to have David Powers here with Christian Financial Resources. And I'm happy your lovely wife got to make the trip with you this weekend, too.

I agree.

Yeah. They say that about me. I resemble that remark, too.

Yeah, we know.

Yeah. That is true. That's true.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, certainly, CFR has been a great partner for us here at Lakeshore Christian Church. We always want to keep you up-to-date and informed on opportunities that you might have as well in connection with CFR.

Well, let's start out, David, talking about how CFR helps churches.

How CFR helps churches around the country.

Sure. We can relate to that. Sitting in this building, right?

Exactly.

Yeah. Well, I know that it's been a blessing to our church family to partner with CFR. It's enabled us to do a lot of things we would not have been able to do otherwise.

Sure.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I know that people investing on a personal level have really funded that, helped make that possible, like you were saying.

Right.

So tell us a little bit more about how CFR works with individuals and families.

Sure.

Yeah. It is. And I love how CFR is always looking for ways to steward the money the best possible way.

Right.

I know one thing you're doing more of, it seems like lately, too, that I love is more of a legacy planning kind of thing for individuals as well.

Yeah.

Well, we appreciate you. And I want to pray for you and for CFR right now. Let's bow in prayer together.

Thank you.

Father, we thank you for David being able to be here. We thank you for the work in the ministry of CFR. And we just know it's blessed us. But there are people all around the country and around the world who've been blessed and touched by this ministry as well. We thank you that we could be a part of that and that you're using CFR in such a powerful way. Continue to bless the work and bless the people involved. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Let's thank David again.

Thank you. We are happy to have you with us today.

For those of you that were able to be at our summer celebration yesterday out at Camp YI, wasn't that great? Let's thank all of our volunteers and staff that did everything with that. You guys did an amazing job. We appreciate you so much.

Before we begin the message today, I want to mention just a couple of prayer items as well. Ken Sandell, one of our members, his brother passed away this past week and they were traveling with that. We want to keep their family in prayer. And also Paul Smith and his family in the passing of his mother. They're traveling back today, I think. Let's keep them in prayer with that as well.

Again, let's pray together and lift up those families and other needs within the church family.

Father, we thank you that we could come to you in the name of Jesus and boldly approach your throne of grace to find the help that we need with whatever it is we're facing. We lift up families that are dealing with grief. We lift up families that are struggling with other things that they're facing right now that are bringing greater pressure or hard emotional struggles that they might be going through or financial struggles. Whatever it is, the challenge that they're facing now. We just ask that you would help them to be prodded by your spirit to know they can look to you and come to you through Jesus. And you are there for us all every time. And you never leave us. You never forsake us. And you are always with us. You are always willing to provide what's best for us. So we pray for your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus' name, amen.

Well, in this series we're in, we're going through the book of Exodus. So be turning to Exodus chapter 21, if you would. We're going to be talking about laws and the love of God and how those two things actually connect to each other.

You may be aware there are some crazy laws on the books here in the United States. Some of them are crazy. Some of them are no longer, haven't been enforced in years, but they're still on the books. Some of them, thankfully, were finally updated and changed from what they were originally. But I love this kind of stuff. I just think it's fun to go Google that and look at some of those laws that are kind of crazy laws out there.

And I want to share a few of those with you. In Arkansas, it's illegal to mispronounce the state name. I guess some people were saying Arkansas or something. I don't know. And they didn't want to be identified that way. So they made it against the law.

In Connecticut, a pickle cannot be sold unless it bounces. That's an actual law on the books. I don't know exactly why. Maybe that's how you tell if they're fresh or not. I don't know enough about pickles to tell you.

In Indiana, black cats are required to wear bells around their necks on Friday the 13th. Superstitious much? I don't know.

In Maryland, it's illegal to swear while driving. I'm kind of in favor of that. Until I'm stuck in Nashville traffic again.

In New Jersey, it's illegal to commit a violent crime while wearing a bulletproof vest. Now, it's illegal to do the crime, too. I just want to be clear on that. But it's also illegal to be wearing a bulletproof vest. So you can be charged twice for that crime if you're wearing a bulletproof vest. They don't want you to be protected if you're committing crimes.

In Oklahoma, it's illegal to wrestle a bear, just in case you were thinking about going there and doing that.

In Rhode Island, it's illegal to impersonate an auctioneer. I guess auctioneers were threatened by that. I don't know.

In the University Hills section of Boulder, Colorado, it's illegal to put upholstered furniture on your porch. I can see where that could be a problem.

If you're a fan of dairy, in Wisconsin, butter and cheese are required to be, by law, highly pleasing. Don't be pushing that other stuff on us. We only want the highly pleasing stuff.

And this is one of my favorites. In Memphis, Tennessee, this was on the books. Women couldn't drive a car unless there was a man going out in front of them waving a red flag. Just to be fair, I know some guys that might need that, too. Okay?

Absolutely.

Obviously, some of those laws may have made sense at some point for something that had happened, and they decided in reaction to it, we'll make a law. Some of those laws, however, we know, are kind of silly. They just don't really make much sense.

But the difference sometimes is our understanding of it. Why was it a law? Why did they do it to start with? What was going on in that time setting? And the same thing is true when we look at the laws of God.

Now, if you were here last week, you know we looked at the Ten Commandments. And certainly, that's the foundation for the whole law of God. Those Ten Commandments. It is like the Constitution for the United States. Remember we talked about that? How it laid the groundwork? And then, after you have that general Constitution established, there are individual laws then that God gave them that went along with and came under the Constitution.

All the other laws had to be interpreted under the Constitution, the Ten Commandments. So even all these other laws of God, if they were trying to figure out what did God mean by that, it could never violate those Ten Commandments, right? God doesn't contradict Himself. He never goes against Himself. So it has to coincide with the Ten Commandments and how they understood and enforced the rest of the laws.

But even with that understanding, what we're going to find out is, as we look at the laws of God in chapter... It starts out at the end of chapter 20 and goes through several chapters here. I'm not going to read through all of it for the sake of time. But I want you to go back and maybe read through these laws because you're going to catch some that kind of... You say, what? Exactly what is that dealing with? What does that mean? And why would it be like that?

And what we have to remember is that all of God's laws come from God's character. Remember at the very beginning of the series, we looked at this. God's got an amazing plan, right? It's for the healing of the brokenness that came with sin. And everything God does, in response to that brokenness, and bringing healing back from the brokenness that sin caused. All of it. Everything God teaches, every example that He sets, is to help lead us to that healing. Not just for us personally, but for human beings around the world, and for all of His creation to be healed and restored as well. Even His physical creation. God is working to heal and restore the physical creation as well.

And so when we look at this good news, we know it's for His glory, and we know it's also for our good. So everything in this plan has those two elements in it. It's for His glory, and it's for our good.

Now the key is, how we respond to His instructions, to His commandments, to these laws, all depends on, do we trust God's plan? Why should we trust God's plan? Because we know we can trust God's character. So if we can trust God's character, we can trust His plan. If we can trust His plan, then we can be submissive to the teachings, and the laws, and the instructions that God gives us, because we know we can trust they're really for our good. That's why they're there. Even when we don't like them, even when we may not think they're... I don't agree with that, I don't think that should be the way it is. We can still know if we know the character of God, it's still for our good that God gave us these instructions.

So just in introducing this, I want us to just look at Exodus 21 and verse 1 to start with. These are the laws you are to set before them. Who is it? It's Israel, the Israelites. These are the people He freed from Egypt. These are the people that He delivered through the plagues, and He delivered and parted the sea, and brought them across. These are the people that He provided manna from heaven for. These are the people that He's been demonstrating He is the one true God.

So now, remember, He just gave them the Ten Commandments. And now He's going to the next step, which is to give them these individual laws that come under those Ten Commandments.

Now if you read through these, if you're like me, and I do these Bible reading plans, I'm sure a lot of you do too, sometimes you get to a section, you just kind of, poof, you know, you just kind of glaze over it, just browse over it, you know, get through it as quick as you can. And when you do that, sometimes you miss some important things. About God, about God's character, about our relationship with Him, as His people.

And I think this is one of those sections, when you start going through these laws, many of them are very specific to the time, and the culture, and the environment that they're in in the moment. And so you may think they don't apply to us today. And you'd be right, in some ways, some of this doesn't apply to our current situation. But that doesn't mean we can't learn from them, about the character of God and what God wants for the good of His people.

Okay? So even though they may be, you know, precisely just for that moment, and that situation, and they don't apply to the way life is today, in some cases, and some of how we function today, there's a reason they're there. And we don't need to just brush past them, and not give them any attention.

So, after this verse, verse 1, if you've got your Bibles open, I hope you've got your Bibles, if not, pull it up on your smartphone or tablet. In my Bible, it's got it broken down into categories of laws. Alright? Sections of law that deal with a certain category, or situation that they might be dealing with.

I'm going to read through some of the categories it has listed in my NIV translation that I have. Okay? It says, there's a section that deals with servants. It goes right into dealing with servants. Right? Verse 2, if you buy a Hebrew servant, he's here to serve you.

So, he gives them some details about dealing with servants, and some other things that he says about servants. The next category, and the way my translation has it broken down, is personal injuries.

Right? Are you familiar with personal injury law? I mean, we've got it in front of us all the time now, don't we? I mean, there's ad after ad after ad on television, personal injury attorneys, that if you've been hurt in an accident, you need to call them. They're the best ones. They're the ones that can get you the most money. And those who don't call a lawyer get shortchanged. You need to call, right?

So, personal injuries are still something we deal with all the time. So, God is addressing in these laws some personal injuries that they would suffer. Now, they may be a little different than some we would suffer today, but we can still learn about the character of God as we see these things.

For example, he's talking about if someone has an animal that kills another person's animal. Well, that's like seen as a personal injury to them, because that's their livelihood, right? So, you've got to deal with that.

And then, you've got other categories of laws here. You've got protection of property. You've got social responsibility. You've got justice and mercy that God wants to be sure he puts into the law and into their minds on how they need to respond to different situations.

Now, in that culture, it might look different in some cases than it does in our culture, but the principles are still there that we need to understand come from the character of God.

So, I want to just talk about four things about God's law, and we'll go back and look at some of this, and we're not going to read through all of it. I want you to take time to do that later, but let's talk about some of these principles.

The first principle I wanted to share with you is this. God's laws are not easy to understand a lot of times. They're not always easy to understand.

Now, some of them are. It's pretty easy. Like, if you kill somebody's animal, you've got to replace it with some animals. That's easy, right? It's easy to understand.

But there's some stuff here that's hard to understand, especially depending on the translation you might be reading. For example, go back to verse 2 of chapter 21. If you buy a Hebrew servant, some translations say slave. It's like, that's how they translate that word. And you're thinking, well, does God say it's okay to have slaves? Is that what's saying in the law there?

And the word in the Hebrew doesn't mean slave the way we think of slavery. Remember, these people just came out of slavery. These people were just delivered from slavery by God. So why would God say, well, you can still buy slaves and have slaves? That's not what that word means in that context.

And you have to dig a little deeper. That's the thing about when things are hard to understand, don't assume the worst and don't assume the best. Just dig a little deeper and find out what he's talking about there. Don't just assume you know that's a bad thing or that's a good thing without knowing more of what's going on there.

In that culture, they would have people that were contracted for service. For example, if it was a poor family and they wanted something better for their kids, or they could contract with a more well-to-do family, they get a price that's paid for the services of that member of their family, and it gives that family member an opportunity to do better for themselves than that poor family could have provided for them otherwise.

We do the same thing today, by the way, before you start thinking that's a bad thing. We contract for services all the time, don't we? You sign a contract for certain services. You pay them for those services. They're bound to do those services. You could take them to court if they don't do their services.

You see, there's protection on both sides in the way God does his law here. And we even do it in a different way in fields like sports. Alright? An athlete will sign a contract to give their services to a certain team in sports.

Now, is he free to just do whatever he wants? No, he signed a contract. He's obligated to fulfill that contract. Does the team own that person? No, but they own their services by the contract. And the only way the athlete can get out of doing that is if that team decides they'll release them from that contract for those services.

That's why you hear terms like, are they going to release that quarterback off that team? Because that would free him up to go to another team. But unless they release them, they can't do it. And even if they release them, the other team will have to pay their portion of the contract that has to be paid for them to be released.

We do the same kind of things today. In fact, one of the biggest things that's been happening in Nashville over the past couple of years was how they finally established some protection for songwriters and singers for their music and how it's being used out there and how they get paid for it, right? They had to have some protection there.

And so God is putting some protection in there for servants and for people who might contract for the services of people to come and serve in their household. But it's hard to understand unless you go a little deeper, right? You get to know more of the culture, you get to know more why it would be important for that to be in the law specifically to deal with that specific thing.

So don't just assume that these laws are just, they don't make sense until you get to know more of the context. I love what the Psalmist says about God's law in Psalm 119 beginning with verse 97. He said this, "Oh, how I love your law. I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me and make me, what's that word? Wiser than my enemies. I have more, what's that word? Insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts."

The Psalmist recognizes the value of God's laws, of God's restrictions and God's boundaries that he set. He understands how valuable they are and so he spends a lot of time getting to know them, trying to understand them and how they work and how to live them out in his life. And when he lives them out, he's discovering that there's wisdom in the law of God.

There's a reason behind the laws, to protect people, to care for people, to provide for people, as they need to be provided for, within every culture that they're in, whatever their situation is. God has provided the teaching to bring care and protection to his people.

I love 2 Peter chapter 3. Peter talks about some of Paul's writings in scripture. And the Apostle Paul, you know, came from a different background and the way he wrote and the way he taught may be a little different and hard for some people to understand who weren't from his background.

And Peter says this, "Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters, listen to this, contain some things that are hard to understand."

So Peter's admitting, well some of what Paul teaches is kind of hard to get. It's hard to understand. So if there's some things in God's law that you don't understand, you're in good company. Peter had trouble with some of Paul's instructions, right? So you're in really good company.

And Peter's acknowledging that some of those things are hard to understand, but listen to what he says, okay? He goes on to say, they're hard to understand, but here's the problem with it, which ignorant and unstable people distort as they do other scriptures to their own destruction.

When something's hard to understand, sometimes we distort what it means, what it was for, how God was intending that to be taken and used. And the same thing happens with all of scripture. There are people who take scripture and twist it and try to make God look like he's evil or he doesn't care or he's detached or his laws are just so outdated and antiquated they don't apply anymore.

See, we take those things and we twist them for our own purposes. Or we use them to oppress people sometimes instead of lifting them up the way God wants them to. God intended to lift them up.

So we need to know that even though they're hard to understand, we don't need to distort them. In verse 17 he says, "Therefore, dear friends, since you've been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen."

So instead of distorting them and instead of ignoring them, you dig into them. You spend time with them. You learn. You learn about the setting, the cultural setting. You learn about why their livelihood was based on this and why it's so important to protect it in this way so that you don't think of God in the wrong way. You understand the value of what He's doing there when He gives the laws that He gives.

Same thing is true with the new covenant and the instructions God gives us there. There are people today that think God's restrictions may be on sexual activity or restrictions on how you handle your money and teachings on that, that they're oppressive or in some way, you know, God's out there just trying to keep you from having fun. It's kind of the approach a lot of people take with the Bible.

But when you understand the character of God, you know that's not God's intention. God's intention is to give you the best life as He designed life to be.

Now who's the creator of life? He is. Who would best know how that life should be? What should be lived? And what should be done or not done to get the best out of it? The creator would know best.

And so we need to learn to trust the character of God. And the second principle goes right along with that. It's the reason we can trust His character and know that God's laws are from the heart of God. They come directly from His heart. A heart of a God who loves us.

Remember that the Israelites have just come out of hundreds of years in Egypt as slaves. They have not had a structure of law and governing for themselves that whole time. They've been under the oppression of Egypt the whole time.

And so the generation that's freed from Egypt, they've never had to set up laws. They've never had to set up any organized way of doing things. It's all been dictated to them by Pharaoh and the rulers under Pharaoh.

And so when they get out on their own and they have this freedom, one of the most unloving things God could do was say, you're on your own now. Just figure it out for yourself.

But a loving God wouldn't do that. A loving God would say, I'm going to help you understand how to organize things, how to do things, how to protect people, how to care for people, how to protect property and livelihoods, and how to have a life. How to have life in the best way possible as freed people now out of the yoke of slavery.

And so all of the laws of God come out of His heart for His people. And when you know that, it's like the rebellious teenager, right? When the parent's trying to say, here's a restriction. I don't want you to do this. I don't want you to go there. I don't want you to be out after this time.

All of those things that we try to do, we're trying to do it from our hearts to protect them. And the whole time they're pushing back and pushing back because they don't think it should have to be that way.

And so many times we as God's people are treating our Father the same way. We push back because we don't think it ought to have to be that way. And one reason we push back is because we haven't quite learned yet the heart of God for His people.

When you know the depth of the love God has for you, it's easier to be more submissive. Even to those things that you think, man, I just, I don't understand why it has to be that way. I just don't know why God would require that.

But when you know His heart is what it is, then you're more likely to say, I can see that even when I don't understand why, I can trust God.

Let's go back in Exodus, Exodus chapter six, beginning with verse six, we go back to this promise of deliverance that God has given His people. He says, therefore, he's telling Moses to say this to his people. Therefore say to the Israelites, I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people. I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.

Why does God introduce Himself that way? Because He wants them to know how much He cares for them, what He's willing to do for them, how He cares more for what's good for them than they could ever realize and understand.

And that's why He's going to all these extremes that He's going through to get them out from under that bondage and get them to the land that He wants to have them live in and be that set-apart people for Him in that place. He loves these people. And that's why He's doing all these things.

So He wants them to know Him. And all of Scripture and all of the time of Jesus coming in the flesh, all of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, all of that is there because God wants that kind of relationship with us where we understand how much He knows and loves us.

But we also get to know Him. We get to know Him as the person of God. The Scripture says that Jesus was the exact representation of God on earth. If you want to know about God and God's character and God's love, just look to Jesus to get to know God. That's who God is.

The Word of God was made flesh. He dwelt among us. We beheld His glory, right? This is God with us. And now Jesus goes back to be with the Father and He sends us His Spirit to indwell us and live in us. That's God with us.

We need to get to know God because the laws of God, the teachings of God, the instructions of God, the boundaries that God sets, all come from the heart of God.

Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3, verses 16 and 17, all Scripture is, where does it come from? It's what? God breathed. And it's useful. I mean, He doesn't just give us the teaching just to restrict us and prove He's the boss. It's useful, okay, for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

God wants us to have all the instructions we need to live the good life and do the good stuff He prepared in advance for us to do. That's why it's all there.

And so we need to stop looking at the law as somehow restricting us and start welcoming it as something that protects and cares for us and for others that we have relationship with and interact with. He wants them to be protected and cared for, too.

And so He put these boundaries there for the good of His people. He's got a good plan. It's for His glory. It's for our good. But we have to remember the plan comes from the very heart of God. That's why it's such a good plan. And that's why we need to stop pushing against it so much.

In the flesh, it's our natural tendency to push back when somebody tries to tell us what to do and what not to do, right? Isn't that usually your first reaction, whether you want to admit it or not? Nobody's telling me what to do, right? That's kind of the attitude in America today, especially.

You've got no right to tell me what to do. I've got my own truth. You've got your truth. But don't try to push yours on me, right? That's pretty much the attitude in America today.

But God is saying, Jesus says, I am the way and the truth, and the life. There is one who has the right to set the boundaries, to put the restrictions, to give the instructions. And the reason he has that right is because of the love he's already demonstrated to us in providing the greatest need of our lives through his son, Jesus Christ.

He's earned the right to hold that place in our lives where he can set the boundaries for us because he knows he has proven over and over again his love for us.

The third principle is this. God's laws are also intended to protect the vulnerable in that culture and that society. When you read through these laws, some of them are a little bit hard to understand. They're confusing, right?

If you buy a Hebrew servant, he says, well, he's here to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he shall go free without paying anything. If he comes alone, he can be set free alone. If he comes with a wife and family already, they can be set free with him.

Well, why is there a sixth year? Why does he put that restriction for six years, but in the seventh year he gets to be set free? Well, that's to prevent abuse of servants. It's to prevent them from being held down as that's the only option they have in life is to be that servant, right?

He wants them to know there's a plan for this so that you will be eventually out there on your own and be able to have other options and other choices for your life, even within that culture. It was hard, but they could do that.

And so he's setting it up for them to have that opportunity in advance. But he also says something else. If you're still maybe thinking that's kind of like slavery, that's not that at all, because in verse 16 he says, anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper's possession.

There was still that, even among the people of God, see, slavery has been around in every culture throughout all of human history. It's not something new to America. Or the slavery that we endured, as awful as it was, it has always existed in society all around the world and all people groups.

And one of the most hideous things about slavery is sometimes their own people would enslave them by force and sell them for their own profits, even among their own people. That happened in American slavery. It happened in slavery throughout all of history. That happened with the Egyptian slavery of the Israelites. Some of the Israelites worked with the Egyptians and helped them get slaves, right? Because it was profitable for them.

It's happened forever. And so God puts a protection here because He doesn't want vulnerable people who don't have the means or the funds or the influence to be taken by force and sold into slavery to somebody, even into service to somebody, if that wasn't something their family was choosing for them, to give them an opportunity.

If it was just to enslave them, then God says, if you had kidnapped someone, if you take someone by force and sell them to somebody, you are to be put to death for doing that. That's how God feels about slavery. That's His view on slavery. That's not an okay thing in God's eyes, ever.

And so we need to understand the heart of God behind the laws, and part of His heart is to protect vulnerable people from people who would abuse them or misuse them.

Well, there's a fourth principle here that I want us to get to as well. And that is, as we've seen with the whole book of Exodus, with the whole promise to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, all of it is tied to this. God's laws are designed to lead us to Jesus, period. They are designed to lead us to Jesus.

You see, what He's doing with Israel, remember, is pointing ahead. And what He did before that in the record of creation and the fall and everything after the fall, everything after the fall, everything after the curse of sin is all part of God's plan that leads us to this part of the plan where He sends the Savior, the Messiah, to deliver us from the bondage and slavery to sin.

And so, even these laws, even this section that's hard to read and understand, and sometimes we'll just brush over and go on to something that we like better, even all of that stuff, in detail, is part of God working out this plan to lead to the place and the time that was exactly right when everything was in place that He needed to have in place.

He prepared it before the foundation of the world that at that particular time He would send Jesus. He would come from His existence in heaven and clothe Himself in the flesh and be among us to deliver us ultimately.

And so, all of this law, all of this teaching about submitting to the law, it's all pushing and looking ahead to that fulfillment of His plan. In Exodus 24, verses 7 and 8, let's look at that as Moses gives them this law.

It says, "Then He took the book of the covenant and read it to the people. They responded, We will do everything the Lord has said. We will obey."

I think they were kind of hyped up for the moment. I think they were a little over-optimistic that we're going to just do all this good stuff. We're going to do exactly what God's telling us to do here. We're going to obey everything.

We know the rest of the history of the Israelites and the rest of their journey. Over the 40-year period in the wilderness, we know that even shortly after this, they're not obeying all the laws.

Now, it's one thing to know God's laws come from His heart and that God has demonstrated His good character. It's another thing to battle the flesh every day and keep the law the way we know we should.

Now, don't leave me hanging here. How many of you sometimes struggle to just walk in the way God wants you to walk?

Anybody?

Yeah. Thank you for making me feel better about myself. It's a battle, isn't it? And the Scripture is very honest that we all sin and come short.

Now, that doesn't mean it's okay and we should excuse it and take it lightly. No. That's not what that word, that's not what that passage means. What that passage means is the law is doing a good job of teaching us how much we need what? Jesus.

How much we need a Savior. How much we need someone that can cover what we messed up and bring the healing back, bring the restoration back in our relationship with God.

And that requires someone without sin, someone who has kept the law perfectly. And the only one who's done that is Jesus. It's all pointing to Jesus.

So look at what he does here. They said, "We'll do everything the Lord has said. We will obey." In verse 8, Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words."

Oh, it's a covenant established in what? Blood. Why blood? Because the Scripture teaches us that apart from blood, there is no forgiveness, the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

Do you think he said that? Do you think it might be pointing ahead a little bit? Do you think it might be directing their minds and their hearts to think of that blood sacrifice that was going to be needed to redeem the people of God? Absolutely.

God is preparing hearts and minds to know the need for and the provision for the Savior and the blood that would be spilled on that cross so that we could be cleansed and made new.

Galatians 3, beginning with verse 23, Paul says it this way, "Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our, look at that word, what's that word? Guardian, until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith."

The law was our what? Guardian. Now what's a guardian doing? It's protecting you and keeping you until this delivery that he's talking about today.

See, the law served its purpose for Israel. The law that he had for them was serving a great purpose. It was holding them and keeping them. They were making sacrifices on the altar, blood sacrifices that were acting as this guardian for them.

It didn't remove their sins. It didn't take it away. It just protected them until God was going to do what? Send the Savior that would make the payment in full for the sins of the people.

So he goes on to say, verse 25, "Now that this faith has come, you're no longer under a guardian. So in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God through faith. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."

We've got something better than a guardian. We have a deliverer who saves us in Jesus. And in order for us to be saved by this, one God has provided out of his heart for his people. He's provided this deliverer, this Savior.

But I love that terminology that he uses that when we're baptized into Christ, we have done what? We've clothed ourselves with Christ. Baptism is a beautiful, beautiful picture and demonstration of putting the old man of sin to death to rising up to a new life.

And it says we put on Christ. We are clothed with Christ. Why is it so essential that we be clothed with Christ? Because our righteousness is like filthy rags. That's why. Because we've all sinned. We've all come short.

And if we're going to dwell for eternity with a holy God, we cannot do that with our sins. We can't take our sins with us into the presence of a holy God. We are not going to be welcome in his presence with our sins.

So we need to get off these filthy rags we think are our righteousness, and we need to clothe ourselves with Jesus and his righteousness. Because only in Christ can we stand righteous before a holy God.

No one, no one can stand in his presence without the covering of the blood Jesus shed on the cross.

Maybe today there's someone who's ready to take that step of surrendering to God's call on their lives. Maybe the Spirit is prompting you today. You've not yet professed your faith, right? It begins with that.

I believe what the Bible says about Jesus. I'm ready to make him the Lord of my life. I want the cleansing that he can provide. If you're ready to profess your faith in him, if you haven't been baptized yet, then today, even today, you can go into that water, be buried with Christ, and then be clothed with Christ so that you can stand in the presence of a holy God and dwell in relationship with him.

You can take that step today. Maybe today you've already taken that step, but you know, in that battle in the flesh, you've wandered away again.

Here's the thing about the blood of Jesus. It doesn't just flow backwards. It flows into the present too, and it flows ahead so that you can be forgiven even today if you come in repentance and in faith.

The blood of Jesus is still just as powerful to cleanse and restore you in your relationship today. You don't have to get baptized over and over again if you did it in faith to begin with. But there needs to be a repentance and a confession and a renewal of your walk.

So, if you're in a relationship with Jesus, maybe you just need a church home to connect with and be a part of, and we encourage you. If you're listening online, find your, if you don't live in our area, find you a good church home in the area you're in. If you're in the area, you need to be connected to a church family.

That's God's plan for once you are clothed with Christ is to be connected with the family, the bride of Christ, the church. To be part of the work of the redeeming and the healing of the world that God wants you to be a part of as a member of the church.

Maybe you want to make this your church home today. Whatever the need is, let's pray together and then as we stand and sing we invite you to come.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you that we have this opportunity to come and recognize from your word that your law, your teaching, your guidance, your boundaries that you set, your commands to do things, they're all there out of your heart and your love for us. That's why they're there.

So help us to value those things, not to see them as some restriction that you're putting on us, but to see them as the path of life that you want them to be. Help us to embrace your teaching, to love your teaching, as the Psalmist said, to meditate on it, to apply it to our lives and bind it to be true and right and good.

Father, I pray that even now if there's someone who's decided to come under your teaching, under your Lordship, that today, through the prompting of your Spirit, they would take those steps of obedience.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Let's stand and sing together.

Everybody have a seat, please. I have some decisions I want to share with you today and prayer needs. Tana, come on up here. Stand right up there for me, alright?

Tana comes today. This is her birthday, by the way.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's her birthday chronologically, but she's also about to make a profession of faith in Jesus and be baptized into Christ and be born again spiritually. We're so thankful that you're taking this step today.

I'm going to ask you for our benefit to repeat after me what I know you believe in your heart.

I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and I do accept Him as my Lord and my Savior.

Amen.

God bless you. If you would, go right over there. Tracy's going to take you back, help you get ready for the baptism. Thank you.

We're going to celebrate that here in just a moment here, okay?

Come on up here, brother. Tell everybody your name.

Benjamin comes today. He's already a baptized believer in Jesus, but he's, like so many over time, sometimes we can stray away from that commitment to Jesus. He comes today to recommit his life and his walk to the path of Jesus.

Okay. Amen.

Benjamin, I just want to pray over you right now. I know that you come as a believer already and someone who's already been connected to Christ, but we pray for that renewal of that relationship and that walk.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for Benjamin's heart today to come before you in repentance and seeking a recommitment of his life to Jesus and to call you. We thank you for that. We thank you for the love that you have on his life. Help him to be reassured today that you have a plan that's good. It's for your glory. It's for his good. And he can trust your plan for his life.

Father, I pray that he would be renewed and recommitted to that plan that you have because it's always going to be the best thing. And Father, I pray that he would have strength and encouragement for those around him, that he would connect himself with people that would encourage him in that walk with Jesus that he needs to have and that he could be that encouragement to others in this world.

Father, I pray that you would be with him. It's our prayer in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thank you, Benjamin. God bless you, man. Thank you.

We have a prayer need, too, that, come right up to the mic. And share with everybody the need that you were sharing with me earlier. Tell everybody your name, too.

All right. Tell everybody your name.

I'm Yolanda, too.

Yeah.

Yolanda.

Yeah. We want to be praying for her. And then we have another prayer need, as well. Come on up.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Come on up.

You need to speak for her, you think?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

Grace?

Yes, Grace.

All right. Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Let's lift these up in prayer. I know there are probably other needs within the church family. Those that you know about, just be praying silently about those, as well.

Let's pray together.

Father, we lift up these needs that have been mentioned up front today. We know your throne of grace is there for us. And we know your heart. We know your character. You want what's best for your people. And that's why we can pray for your will to be done, because we know your will being done on earth is to your glory, and it's for our good.

And so, Father, we pray for these individuals that are struggling right now, going through these hard things. We pray that they would know the presence, the peace, the provision of Jesus. It's in the person of Jesus that we find the help that we need. And we give you all the thanks as we lift up these needs to you. In Jesus' name, amen.

God bless you. Thank you.

Thank you.

At this time, Dr. Ed is going to come and lead us in a time of communion together, as we go back and get ready to celebrate the baptism after that.

Amen.

In Christ's name, Amen.

Tana, it is our joy based upon your profession of faith that you trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. I now baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of your sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

I was joking whether I said I didn't test the water. It's usually warm. I don't know if it is today or not, so sometimes it doesn't work, but it was warm, so we're thankful for that.

We love celebrating those decisions like that. Don't forget to continue to pray for those things that we need to be praying about. We're glad that you've been here today.

If you are a first-time guest, be sure to stop by the information counter before you leave. We've got a gift we would love to give you there. CFR has a table set up in the lobby. You can stop by there and get more information. I know David and Amy would love to meet you and talk with you a little bit if you have any questions about anything with CFR, and they'll help you out with that.

If you'd like to continue worshiping through the giving of an offering, we have offering boxes, one in the back of the auditorium and one in the hallways your exit. You can just drop your offering in the top slot of those boxes there.

At this time, Jeremy's going to come up and close us out with some announcements and close us out with...

1. "All of God's laws come from God's character. Remember at the very beginning of the series, we looked at this. God's got an amazing plan, right? It's for the healing of the brokenness that came with sin. And everything God does, in response to that brokenness, and bringing healing back from the brokenness that sin caused. All of it. Everything God teaches, every example that He sets, is to help lead us to that healing. Not just for us personally, but for human beings around the world, and for all of His creation to be healed and restored as well." [34:00] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "Now the key is, how we respond to His instructions, to His commandments, to these laws, all depends on, do we trust God's plan? Why should we trust God's plan? Because we know we can trust God's character. So if we can trust God's character, we can trust His plan. If we can trust His plan, then we can be submissive to the teachings, and the laws, and the instructions that God gives us, because we know we can trust they're really for our good. That's why they're there." [35:20] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "God's laws are not easy to understand a lot of times. They're not always easy to understand. Now, some of them are. It's pretty easy. Like, if you kill somebody's animal, you've got to replace it with some animals. That's easy, right? It's easy to understand. But there's some stuff here that's hard to understand, especially depending on the translation you might be reading." [40:14] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "The Psalmist recognizes the value of God's laws, of God's restrictions and God's boundaries that he set. He understands how valuable they are and so he spends a lot of time getting to know them, trying to understand them and how they work and how to live them out in his life. And when he lives them out, he's discovering that there's wisdom in the law of God. There's a reason behind the laws, to protect people, to care for people, to provide for people, as they need to be provided for, within every culture that they're in, whatever their situation is." [44:50] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "God's laws are also intended to protect the vulnerable that culture and that society. When you read through these laws, some of them are a little bit hard to understand. They're confusing, right? If you buy a Hebrew servant, he says, well, he's here to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he shall go free without paying anything. If he comes alone, he can be set free alone. If he comes with a wife and family already, they can be set free with him." [56:26] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




6. "God's laws are designed to lead us to Jesus, period. They are designed to lead us to Jesus. You see, what He's doing with Israel, remember, is pointing ahead. And what He did before that in the record of creation and the fall and everything after the fall, everything after the fall, everything after the curse of sin is all part of God's plan that leads us to this part of the plan where He sends the Savior, the Messiah, to deliver us from the bondage and slavery to sin." [59:11] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




7. "The law was our, look at that word, what's that word? Guardian, until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. The law was our what? Guardian. Now what's a guardian doing? It's protecting you and keeping you until this delivery that he's talking about today. see, the law served its purpose for Israel. The law that he had for them was serving a great purpose. It was holding them and keeping them. They were making sacrifices on the altar, blood sacrifices that were acting as this guardian for them." [01:04:14] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




8. "Baptism is a beautiful, beautiful picture and demonstration of putting the old man of sin to death to rising up to a new life. And it says we put on Christ. We are clothed with Christ. Why is it so essential that we be clothed with Christ? Because our righteousness is like filthy rags. That's why. Because we've all sinned. We've all come short. And if we're going to dwell for eternity with a holy God, we cannot do that with our sins. We can't take our sins with us into the presence of a holy God." [01:06:57] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)