In our consideration of the Heidelberg Catechism, the summary of scripture, we are in the third section, as you recall, the section on gratitude, thanksgiving for the redemption that we enjoy in God. And we are about to begin to consider each of the Ten Commandments individually. And before we do that, before we begin to consider them in the weeks ahead, I would like us to consider, first of all, this morning, the preamble or the introduction to the law of God, which we read this morning, our text this morning, Exodus 20, verse 2, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. And in connection with that, let's read together Deuteronomy 4. Deuteronomy 4, the first 14 verses. Deuteronomy 4, as we begin at verse 1. Hear now the Word of God. Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you. You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor. But all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today. See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations who will hear about all these decrees and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to Him. And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb when He said to me, Assemble the people before Me to hear My words so that they may learn to revere Me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children. You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens with black clouds and deep darkness. Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form. There was only a voice. He declared to you His covenant, the Ten Commandments, which He commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Dear people of God, as you know already this morning, the law of God, the Ten Commandments, was read. And of course, we do this Sunday after Sunday. We're used to this. It's a necessary part of our morning worship service. Even though that law is written on our hearts, sometimes the sin that continues to remain in us against our renewed will still desires to ignore that which has been written there. And therefore, we need to hear that law with our ears regularly each and every week. In that way, we are called to examination weekly. But now I ask you, when the law of God is read, how do you listen to the law? What do you hear when it is read? Is it so commonplace to you that you tend to tune it out? And therefore, the reading of the law is sort of like an intermission for you in the midst of the worship service? Or do you hear each commandment with the Word of God striking your heart ten times like the gong on a grandfather clock? You see, what you hear and how you react to the law of God with obedience or rejection depends upon your relationship to the lawgiver. Indeed, as we listen to the law of God, we are to be convinced and convicted of our sin and misery. We are to be reminded, as the catechism points out in Lord's Day 5, that we daily increase our debt. And Isaiah says that even our best works are as filthy rags. The law of God is a reminder that we cannot earn, we cannot work for our salvation. And as well, then having been reminded of our sin and misery, the law of God then lifts our eyes once again to Him who kept that law perfectly in our place. Jesus Christ. God's people, you see, have kept the law perfectly. not in and of themselves, but only through Jesus Christ. It's His righteousness and His perfection that is imputed, freely given to believers, each and every one, so that God sees His people as righteous in Christ. And for those for whom this is true, for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, obedience, you see, is a matter of a right relationship with the lawgiver. And the character of that obedience is now gratitude. That right relationship between the lawgiver and true believers, as we know, is given in the introduction. Or that which is called the prologue or the preamble to the law. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You see, congregation, that introduction is not simply a stepping stone to get over to the commandments. and once that introduction has been spoken, well, then the real important stuff comes, as if this introduction has no real meaning. The truth is, the commandments of God have no meaning apart from this introduction, because this preamble identifies the relationship between the lawgiver and the lawreceivers. And I believe that so many have such a low view or wrong view of the law of God because they don't hear, they don't listen to, and they don't understand this introduction. You see, beloved, this preamble points back to the history of redemption. And at the same time, it points forward to a new stage in the relationship between God and His people. And that's why the Catechism rightly considers the law of God in the section called gratitude. Thanksgiving. I preach to you the call to grateful living through knowledge of the lawgiver. Knowledge of who He is. Knowledge of what He has done. And knowledge of why He gave His law. Now it's no secret, I trust any one of us, that no one will be grateful if there's nothing to be grateful for. That's kind of natural for us. But God's people have the greatest reason to give thanks And that's simply because of who God is. God introduces Himself here in sacred Scripture, I am the Lord, your God. You see, the Ten Commandments are a summary of the covenantal arrangement for God's people. And these commandments then give instruction with regard to how we are to operate in covenant with God. And a covenant agreement always began with an introduction of the parties involved in the covenant. along with establishing authority. And that's what we have here in this preamble. The parties are God and His people with the authority belonging to God. This very introduction of Himself, you see, serves as the basis for the obligation that the people have to keep the commandments that follow this introduction. These very words, I am the Lord your God, are packed so full of meaning. First of all, He is God. Not a God. but the one and only true God of which Moses can say in confidence in verse 7 of Deuteronomy 4, what other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to Him? He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. And all men, whether they like it or not, whether they believe it or not, or whether they will acknowledge it or not, all men are bound to Him by His right of creation. he is the one who gives life and existence to all and he is the one who preserves the life that he gives his claim of authority is that he is the supreme being to whom all owe their existence there is no higher power than this God but not only is he God but then he strengthens his claim of authority by saying he is the Lord you see he gets very personal Yahweh their covenant God. The One who has entered into a special relationship with His people. He is the God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God of promise who formed them to be His own special people. He is the One who bound Himself to them in the covenant of grace with Father Abraham. Beloved, by this introduction of who He is, God establishes His right to be obeyed and His right that His commandments not be despised and received with contempt. You see, there is no other reason that He needs to give for His people to be obedient to Him besides the fact that He is the covenant God of His people. He doesn't owe us anything else. Boys and girls and young people, it's kind of like your relationship with your parents. It's not identical, but it's kind of like this. You see, your parents do not earn. They do not have to earn your honor and your obedience. They deserve it by the very fact that they are your parents placed over you by God. God does not need to earn our honor and our obedience. We owe it to Him by the very fact that He is God. Israel was to be reminded of this covenant relationship each and every time they heard these words. And we can be sure that they heard them often. I'd like to point out just a couple of places in a few chapters of Leviticus. Leviticus 19, first of all, verses 36 and 37. Use honest scales and honest weights and honest ephah and an honest hymn. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt. Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the Lord. Then chapter 20, verse 7. Consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am the Lord your God. And then chapter 22, verses 31-33. Keep My commands and follow them. I am the Lord. Do not profane My holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the Lord who makes you holy and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord. Now, beloved, in Jesus Christ, we here today are also to hear what Israel heard in these words. The same covenant God who gave them His law gives the same law to us today. Is that law different for us today? No. And yes. No, in the sense that it is the very same Ten Commandments that God's people have always been called to live by. But yes, because Jesus Christ fulfilled that law. He kept it perfectly in your place, in my place, and He gave it an even deeper and richer meaning for us. As He internalized it for us. As He taught that whoever looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Whoever hates his neighbor has already committed murder. You see, God is our covenant God. He has formed a people, the church, for Himself through Jesus Christ. And we are called to grateful, obedient living because He is God. It is He who has made us and not we ourselves, the Bible says. Yet God gave further reason for obedience and gratitude. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You see, not only a knowledge of who He is in the first place, but also a knowledge of what He has done is to move us to grateful living. Now in these words, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, in those few words, there was a clear reminder to the Israelites of their desperate situation. A situation in which they were trapped. They were slaves in captivity to the Egyptians and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. They couldn't rescue themselves. They couldn't set themselves free. On their own, the situation around them looked completely hopeless. There was nothing that they could do to accomplish or earn their deliverance or salvation. And this then is also a reminder for us of our captivity to sin and misery. Yet you see, these few words do so much more. They would do so much more than just give the Israelites, for example, a vague reminder of the march out of Egypt. Oh yeah, I remember that, sort of. Or I remember my grandfather telling me about that, that Israel, that we marched out of Egypt. There's so much more included in these few words. All of God's mighty acts are recorded in these words. Every single plague which was an attack against the gods worshipped by the Egyptians pointed to the power of God. The Red Sea crossing. The daily manna and quail. The water from the rock being preserved in the wilderness 40 years so that the clothes on their backs didn't even wear out. All are rolled up in these words. God, bringing them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, proved that He is God and approved that He was their God. See, Israel owed her existence to God for His deliverance. And this glorious act of deliverance was a distinct and a wonderful manifestation of the unmerited, divine love of God. These few words, beloved, were a reminder of God's mercy and grace, especially seen in light of the fact that Israel was always complaining, remember? And they were always ready to turn around and go right back to the land of slavery. But God had redeemed them. And this redemption was a sure pledge of their adoption. And they were not their own, but belonged to Him because He had purchased them. And this was apart from anything worthwhile in themselves. They were never to forget their deliverance from out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. In fact, throughout Scripture, we find the retelling of this story over and over again in many places. For example, in Psalm 105, the story is told in connection with the Lord's eternal faithfulness. Before Joshua dies, in Joshua chapter 24, he retells the story and then he challenges the people with these familiar words, Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Moses tells the story again in Deuteronomy 8. As well, it is to be told constantly to the children. We find that in Deuteronomy 6, verses 20-25. In the future, when your son asks you what is the meaning of the stipulations decrees, and laws the Lord our God has commanded you. Tell him, we were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes, the Lord sent miraculous signs and wonders, great and terrible, upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But He brought us out of there to bring us in and give us the land that He promised on oath to our forefathers. The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God so that we might always prosper and be kept alive as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God as He has commanded us, that will be our righteousness. But you see, every time this deliverance from Egypt story was told, it always, always included God's commandments. You see, congregation, because of this deliverance, therefore, they were called to obey. This glorious act of deliverance was to kindle in the hearts of the people the warmest love in return. To give back to God. And to move God's people to keep the commandments. Because they had been delivered, they were called to show gratitude for this deliverance. Gratitude or thankfulness demonstrated by the service of obedience. You see, redemption undergirded the law. It wasn't, obey the law and then you shall be delivered. But it was, you have been redeemed. You have been delivered. Therefore, keep my commandments. Beloved, those who are given the law were already God's chosen people. And therefore, the law of God is not to be understood as a means of salvation, but as instruction regarding the shape that such a redeemed life is to take in one's everyday affairs. Why are we called to keep the law of God? Because we are God's people. You see, only those who stand in a right relationship with God will understand what His law is all about. And then of them it can be said, as Moses says in verse 6, Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations who will hear about all these decrees and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. You hear the description of those who keep God's law? They're wise. They're understanding. Now we know, don't we, that the analogy of Scripture here is that Israel's deliverance from the slavery of Egypt is a picture of the deliverance of all of God's people by Christ. out of the slavery of sin and its curse. Paul says in Romans 6 that we were slaves to sin, but now having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. And therefore, beloved, as we hear the words of this preamble, we are also to be reminded of something. We are to be reminded of the mighty acts of God upon the cross. We are to be reminded of the crushing of the serpent's head. We are to be reminded of Christ's taking of the eternal wrath and punishment of God for our sin. We are to be reminded of the physical and the spiritual torment that our Savior endured. That's redemption. And all of this is included in this little short preamble, which is instruction that also reminds us of the table of the Lord. Redemption. Deliverance. sins washed away. You see, beloved, we are forever set free from the curse of the law, that curse which apart from Christ is death, but we are not set free from the law itself. Praise God. May it never be. You see, God gave His law in the setting of His grace. And in Christ, we are all the more bound to that law. By the redeeming grace of God, we can serve by obedience to the law, we can serve Him in perfect freedom. We have no need to be afraid of the curse of the law, but we are able to delight in the precepts of the law. Now that's true freedom. Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law for us, but He also continues, goes on to fulfill the law in us. You see, when we obey, as Paul says, that is Christ in us. That is Christ living in me. And just as it was His food to do the will of His Father, as He says in John chapter 4, by His Spirit, He teaches us to do that too. People of God, every single time we hear the law of God read, we must hear it in the context of Christ's redeeming work, in the context of God's grace. And therefore, we are to sit up and listen as that law is read. Only then will it be a delight to keep His commandments. Because apart from a saving relationship with God in Christ, His commandments can only be burdensome. If you ignore this introduction of who God is and what He has done, you can only feel the curse of His law. It is only through a true knowledge of the lawgiver by His grace that His redeemed people are able to show gratitude to Him through obedience to His law, which as the psalmist says, is better than thousands of coins of gold and silver and are sweeter than honey to my mouth. Well, then finally, why did God give His law? Why did God give His law to His people? He gave it to guard, to guide, and to direct the believer's life of grateful living. And that's why our examination is also so important. Do we recognize the hand of God guarding, guiding, and directing our lives? You see, beloved, it's not a question of if God's law is still valid. We know that Christ fulfilled the civil and the ceremonial laws that were only for the nation of Israel so that they need not be deserved as before. And that's also why not one of you came here this morning with an offering in your hand of a dove or a pigeon or a sheep or a bull to be slaughtered here. Because Jesus Christ is the once for all final sacrifice for sins. But our Lord is clear, very clear about the necessity of God's moral law, the Ten Commandments, which reflect God's moral holiness. In John 14, verse 15, Jesus says, If you love Me, keep My commandments. You see, love for Him and His redeeming Word is demonstrated through obedience. And this means obedience to all of God's commandments, which in effect means the entire Word of God. We are not allowed to pick and choose which commandments we will keep because the commandments lay a claim on life in very specific ways. You know the Ten Commandments which summarize the whole of God's Word. They address the believer's relationship with God, first of all, regarding His person and His worship and His name and His day. And the commandments then also address every earthly relationship, our relationship with our parents, our relationship with our neighbor's life and his marriage and his possessions and his name. Notice question and answer 93 of the Heidelberg Catechism. How are these commandments divided? Into two tables. The first has four commandments teaching us what our relation to God should be. The second has six commandments teaching us what we owe to our neighbor. You see, the law of God is the believer's environment for living. Now, boys and girls, think about it this way. Birds need air. They need open sky. At least most of them need this to fly in. Fish live in water. Without that open sky and air, birds have no freedom. And outside of the water, there's only death for the fish. Because the fish's environment for living is that water. Well, outside of the environment of God's law, there is no freedom. There is only death. but inside the boundaries of God's law is perfect freedom for the child of God. You see, for the world, that environment is relativism. What's right for you is right for you. What's right for me is right for me. And therefore, the world is in slavery to what it thinks is right. But for the child of God, our environment for living is the law of God, wherein we have freedom. We enjoy freedom in observing what God knows is right. There's freedom from the clutches of sin to be what God made us to be. As well, that law is the staff by which we walk the narrow road. That law teaches us the way that we must go as well. It teaches us the way that we must avoid. God gave the Israelites His law. Listen to this. God gave the Israelites His law to keep them from falling back into slavery. Notice chapter 6, Deuteronomy 6, verse 24 again. The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God so that we might always prosper and be kept alive as is the case this day. The law of God would serve to keep His people free. Yet they were sent back into captivity because they rejected God. But Jesus Christ has secured eternal freedom for His people and the believer's grateful living through obedience to His law is evidence of enjoying that freedom. Beloved, why is the law to be our delight? Because as redeemed Christians, we already have eternal righteousness and life by the grace of God. And therefore we are to walk according to the will of God in loving gratitude. We have the law before us because since we have been redeemed from the law of sin and death with the law of God written on our hearts, it is now to be our innermost desire to know the will of God and to keep His testimonies and statutes for the rest of our lives. So that our joyful song is to be, Oh, how love I thy law, it is my meditation all the day. And we need God's law before us daily because ours is only a small beginning of new obedience in this life. Remember, the old man becomes less, the new man becomes more, yet the two are still somewhat side by side in this life. And therefore, we need the law of God for our daily companion to instruct us and to enlighten us as well as to warn us of the way of sin. There's no longer a curse from the law for the believer because Christ bore that curse in its entirety. And the law can never be used by you or me to merit righteousness and life because all of that is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ. So again, that law is now our loving companion and our infallible guide to teach us the way that we should go. For those who do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith, there is indeed no comfort to be found in the law of God because they are still bound to the curse of the law. That law testifies against them. And apart from Jesus Christ, one will get exactly what that one has earned by His works, and that is the eternal curse of hell. But for those who believe by grace through faith, we need to hear the law of God with this introduction, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. And we need to hear this over and over again to continually remind us of whose we are. to whom we belong and why we are His. And in that way, our Lord also prepares us for grateful obedience. You see, beloved, if God's law is meaningless for us here, if it has no meaning for us here in this life, then we will not be fitted for heaven where His law is obeyed and His will is done perfectly. Congregation, may each one of us be challenged in our relationship to God and His law. And may we hear and listen to the commandments of God only in the light of who He is and what He has done. And may we prepare to come to the Lord's table through self-examination in the light of God's law. You see, to be a child of God, you must be a child of His law. Many today live by the slogan, laws or rules are meant to be broken. But for the redeemed child of God, the law of God is the way. of grateful living. Psalm 119, verse 165 says, Great peace have those who love Your law and nothing causes them to stumble. Beloved, may that peace be owned and possessed by each and every one of us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we thank You and praise You that not only have You called us out of darkness into Your marvelous light, not only have You given Your people new hearts, hearts of flesh which replaced the hearts of stone coldness, not only have You caused us to be born again by the power of Your Holy Spirit, but You show us the way that we are to walk in a living relationship with You. Father, help us to recognize that Your law, Your commands are not restricting to us. But within the boundaries of Your law, we enjoy the greatest freedom that anyone can ever enjoy. Father, help us make us to be more obedient servants of the Most High God, through which it would be our delight to say thank you to You for the salvation that we enjoy in Jesus Christ. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake and in His name, Amen.