Today we’re finishing our sermon series on Conflict & Peacemaking. We’ve followed the Four Gs of Peacemaking from Ken Sande’s book The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict, and are going to wrap up by looking at the last G.

G1: Glorify God

G2: Get the Log Out of Your Eye

G3: Gently Restore

G4: Go and Be Reconciled

Last week I asked you to recall to mind a name or relationship you are in conflict with and then apply what you’re learning to that relationship. So let’s assume you’ve done all those things. You’ve determined to glorify God in the midst of conflict with this person, you’ve done your best to examine your own sins and role in the conflict, and maybe even this last week you went out of your way to have a conversation with the other person. Let’s say that went well. What should you do now? How should you and this other person interact? That’s what our final G, “Go and Be Reconciled” is all about.

If you’ve ever gone through conflict with someone, you want the relationship to improve, right? You don’t want it to stay uncomfortable or awkward forever, especially if that someone is close to you or around you all the time, like a family member or coworker. I hope today will help you with life after conflict. Let’s Pray.

We can have a restored relationship with others, after conflict, not because of circumstances or how good we are, but because of how good God is. By experiencing reconciliation first with God, we can offer it to others.

What is reconciliation with God? (2 Cor. 5:18-19)

2nd Corinthians 5:17-21 uses the word “reconcile” five times. Ancient Greece used this word to describe the process of two people in conflict coming back into a relationship. It wasn’t a religious word, but the New Testament takes this word and uses it to describes our relationship with God. Last week I defined reconciliation as “to make peace.” The need for peace implies a state of un-peace, of war. When Adam and Eve sinned against God in the garden, we all became enemies of God. Reconciliation with God is:

Removal of God’s wrath (through Christ)

Like it or not, because of Adam original sin, and because I choose to sin everyday, we’re enemies of God and deserve God’s wrath. In our culture, that seems unfair, but the Bible describes God as perfectly holy and us as unholy. I’m reading Isaiah in my personal devotionals, and in it the prophet Isaiah get’s a vision of God on his throne (Isa 6:1-4). Above the throne are angels called seraphim that have six wings, two to fly, two to cover their faces, and two to cover their feet. Isaiah 6:3 says:

And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory.” (NIV®)

These angels are sinless, but God’s holiness is too much for them. God is so holy they have to shield their faces so they can’t see him (c.f., Ex 3:5). When Isaiah has this vision, and comes into God’s presence as a sinful human being, he cries out, “Woe to me! I am ruined!”

Humans can’t survive in God’s holy presence in our sin. In fact, we broke all of creation with sin and deserve to be punished by God forever and ever. But instead of condemning us, God provides us each with a way of salvation. God removes his wrath by pouring it out on himself through Jesus. Romans 5:8-10 says:

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

We who are reconciled to God are no longer enemies with him. God poured out his wrath on Christ so he wouldn’t have to do so on us. When Jesus hung on the cross, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt. 27:46) so that you and I can cry out “My God, my God, you have not forsaken me.” This is why

Today I want us each to recall to mind a relationship we have trouble with. I want us to think of the name of an individual, a person, who we are currently in conflict with, or have been in conflict with before. Think of a family member you love but keep fighting with, a neighbor you keep arguing with, a coworker or supervisor you can’t work with, or a brother or sister in Christ who just rubs you the wrong way.

I know this is uncomfortable, but I want us to intentionally think of their name. Do you have a name in mind? You can even write it down, unless it’s a person sitting near you. Then I wouldn’t write it down. I hope today’s message will give you some clarity on what to do next with this relationship, if you should have a conversation with this person, and if yes, how to do so in a God-honoring way.

In our sermon series, Conflict & Peacemaking, we’re following the Four Gs of Peacemaking from Ken Sande’s book The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict. Today we’re going through (G3) Gently Restore. As we go through today’s sermon and next week too, ask God, “How does what I’m learning apply to this relationship?” For example:

G1: Glorify God — Make it your mission from here forward to bring God glory through this relationship. Even if it’s one of the most difficult relationships you have, decide that you want to honor God with your actions starting today. Even if you messed up yesterday, you can begin again on the right path.

G2: Get the Log Out of Your Eye — Two weeks ago we learned the importance of humble Christ-dependent self examination. In your own mind, review this relationship and ask yourself, “How have I contributed to the conflict? What am I responsible for?” There are two sides to every story. Try to see this conflict through their eyes, and then bring anything you need to repent of before the Lord.

G3: Gently Restore – This is our topic this week. We’re talking about going to the person directly to potentially confess and hopefully correct the conflict.

G4: Go and Be Reconciled – Next week we’ll finish with the final G, restoring the relationship.

Let’s pray then begin. Father, it’s difficult to recall to mind those names or relationships that have hurt us or are hurting us right now. We know this hurt doesn’t take you by surprise, and that you’ve told us how broken relationships can experience healing in the Bible. Help us understand your plan for healing here. Amen.

Today we’re looking at two texts, the first which explains what to do if someone feels we have sinned against them, and the second which explains what to do if we feel someone has sinned against us or God.

What to do if someone feels you’ve sinned against them (Mt. 5:23-24)

In the Sermon on The Mount, Jesus preaches on murder. He quotes the law of God found in the Ten Commandments, “You shall not murder” and then says, “But I tell you…” (v. 21-22) Jesus here is not changing the law, or writing a new one, but revealing the heart of God’s law, the true standard. He says this:

Matthew 5:22  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. (NIV®)

Jesus is warning us that hate in the heart is just as sinful as hate acted out. God doesn’t just judge us by our actions, he judges us by our thoughts. So this is the context that comes right before verses 23-24. If you know someone is angry with you, perhaps even willing to call you names behind your back like “Raca” or “fool”—raca is an Aramaic term meaning “empty” or “idiot”—then you should go talk with them. Where does Jesus teach us this? We find this in the very next verses.

Go and seek reconciliation with the one you’ve offended.

Matthew 5:23-24 says, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, lea

In this sermon Rev. Bernie Michaud tells the story of a sinful woman anointing the feet of Jesus and Jesus forgiving her of her sins. Please listen to the sermon audio, watch the video, or read the manuscript.

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Why are we as a church going through a sermon series on Conflict & Peacemaking? I brought this series to our leadership team and am bringing it to you for two reasons:

Autonomy: For those of you who don’t know, Cornerstone is the daughter church of Immanuel in Chelmsford. This summer, we’re hoping to become our own legally autonomous non-profit church. We’ll have more ownership and more responsibility, which are both good, but can produce conflict because we’re just that much more invested in this ministry. This transition is like giving birth. Pain in childbirth is natural. Jennie, who worked as a nurse, told me that those moms who go to birthing class manage the pain of childbirth better. I want this series to help us deal with change in a healthy way.

Foundation: I want us to be a church that builds on a foundation of peace. We’re a church of about 70 people. We’re the size of a big family with lots of brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, moms, dads, and grandparents. What I know about family, is that families love each other, but family members sometimes hurt each other. As conflict arises, I want us to be a place where it’s safe to work through our problems, and where we can take what we learn in here and apply it to our lives and relationships.

Ken Sande’s book The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict inspired this series. Ken is a lawyer who works to reconcile people and businesses who are in conflict. He took what he learned from the Bible and put it into practice. He gives four Biblical stages of the peacemaking process (4Gs):

G1: Glorify God

G2: Get the Log Out of Your Eye

G3: Gently Restore

G4: Go and Be Reconciled

This week, I’m going to give you the first two Gs, glorify God and get the log out. Bernie Michaud is preaching next week, but then the following two weeks I’ll go through G3 and G4. Usually I try to focus on one Scripture passage each week. But this week, I really want to give you a broader overview of what the Scripture has to say about the first two Gs of peacemaking. In topical sermons, there’s always a greater risk of taking Bible verses out of context to prove a point. Although we’re not going to look at each passage as slowly as I’d like, I’m going to try and preach each passage true to its meaning. If you feel you’d like to slow down and look at the texts or peacemaking points further, you can review the sermon online or join our peacemaking small group starting in just a few weeks to go deeper. Let’s pray and get started.

G1: Glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1)

The Apostle Paul wrote several letters to the church at Corinth. They are famous for all their problems. There was a lot of division and conflict within the church. One of the things they argued over is whether or not a Christian should eat food that may have been sacrificed to idols. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (NIV®) Paul is urging the Corinthians that no matter what they do, they should seek to glorify God in all of it. Our mission is to glorify God in conflict. That mission will take us down a much different path than glorifying self. It leads to an entirely different destination. So how do we glorify God? 

a. We glorify God by honoring his reputation. (1 Cor. 10:31)

The word for “glory” in 1 Corinthians 10:31 is the Greek word “doxa” (δόξἀ), which can mean glory, honor, reputation, or praise. A doxology is a song or formula of praise. We bring God glory by praising him, honoring him, and upholding his reputation in the midst of our conflict.

When we get into conflict, usually the first question we ask is, “How does this affect my reputation? How does this make me look? What will people say about me?” But Paul wants us to ask, “How does this affect God’s reputation? How does this make God look? How can I act so that others admire Jesus?”

For example, your co-worker sends you a harsh email and copies your whole

Who here has experienced conflict? Who here has experienced conflict in your family? Who here has experienced conflict because of the youngest child in your family? I’m raising my hand because I’m the youngest child in my family.

This week Facebook reminded me to celebrate national sibling day. To commemorate this special holiday I shared this picture of my family on Facebook. It’s a picture of my three older brothers, my parents, and me. Now I love each of my brothers, but growing up my older brother Matthew and I loved each other with a special kind of love. We had a love that constantly told each other, “you can do better,” a love that took every opportunity to teach the other brother humility and patience, a love so deep nobody knew it was there.

A typical interaction between Matthew and me could go a little bit like this. Imagine we’re eating breakfast and I say, “I’m going to eat all of the cinnamon rolls.” My brother would say something like, “If you do that, you’ll get fat.” And so I would take not one but two cinnamon rolls. He would then try to remove the extra cinnamon roll and I would immediately appeal to a hire court, mom and dad, who would end our argument by offering to remove our cinnamon rolls. Matthew and I were truly committed to each other’s holiness.

There will always be conflict in families, whether between a husband and wife, between children and parents, or between siblings. In our new series starting this week, Conflict & Peacemaking, we are going to look at conflict, learn how the Bible teaches peacemaking, and apply what we learn to our lives.

What better way to start this series than with the story Jesus gave us called The Prodigal Son? It is the story of two brothers and a father in conflict. It’s a parable. A parable is “a simple story used to illustrate profound truth.” In this parable we’re called to contrast the younger brother and the older brother, and how each play a part in the conflict. Let’s begin by looking at the younger brother’s role.

The Younger Brother: The one in the wrong. (Luke 15:11-24)

Jesus begins the story by telling us the youngest brother came to his father and said, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” (v. 1) Now in the ancient near eastern culture, such a request was outrageous. You don’t ask your dad to give you his property before his death. It’s like saying, “Dad, I wish you were dead!”

I don’t think I ever told my parents I wished they were dead. When I was sixteen, I told my dad something like, “My girlfriend knows me better than you.” We’d been dating two months and we broke up a few weeks later. This week I watched a message on this story by pastor and author Timothy Keller called The Prodigal God. One of the points he makes is that the word for “property” (v.12) is the Greek word bios (βίος), which means life. The father has to divide his very life and livelihood to pay for the demands of the youngest son.

Jesus’ original audience would have expected the father to slap his son or even disown him, but instead he does something surprising. He sells a third of his property, he tears his life apart, and he gives a portion to the youngest. The other two thirds, a double portion, belonged to the oldest brother (Deut 21:17). Right from the beginning of this parable Jesus wants his audience and us to recognize this son’s sin.

His sin is obvious.

The younger brother’s role in the conflict is obvious. He is the instigator, the offender, the perpetrator, the sinner who breaks the family apart. He’s the careless brother who is always getting into trouble. He’s like that family member who has a problem with alcohol, or drugs, and just when you think you can trust him, he asks you for money. He’s like that family member who can’t control her tongue, and uses every family gathering as an opportunity to criticize, put down, and wound. He’s the problem child.

What does he do when he gets the money? He leaves town, travels far away, and wastes all of his money on parties an

Jack works for a local telecommunications company. He tells his friends he loves his job, his company, and his boss. But if you were to follow Jack for a week, you would notice something is off. On average, he arrives 15 minutes late to work and leaves 15 minutes early. Sometimes he takes office supplies home, like when he needs a pen or highlighter. When he sits at his desk, he has one screen on his work, and one screen open to Facebook and Sports Center. He takes an extra long lunch break, and never steps outside of his cubicle just to say hi to his coworkers. If you were to ask him if he likes his job, he would say, “Absolutely, wouldn’t trade it for the world,” but secretly, he’s following all of the job boards.

The story of Jack is a parable, it’s an analogy for our relationship with God. Let me tell you the story again. Jack is a Christian. If you were to talk to Jack after church, he would say he loves church, Jesus, and God. But if you were to follow Jack for a week, you would notice something is off. On average, he doesn’t pray and his Bible is collecting dust—someone has written “read me” on its cover. He calls the church he attends his church, but he only goes if something else doesn’t pop up. And when he does attend, he’s an audience member, not a participant. He doesn’t have any friends there, and doesn’t volunteer or join a small group. If you were to ask Jack if he loves God, he would say, “Absolutely!” But does he really?

Jack has a problem. His words tell one story, “I love God” but his actions tell a different story, “other things are more important to me than God.” The problem Jack has is called… idolatry. Idolatry is “anything we put above God.” It’s anytime we put God second. When you think of idolatry, your first response is to probably think, “That doesn’t apply to me.” I don’t burn incense to a figurine. I don’t give offerings in temples. Idolatry is expressed those ways in many cultures, but at its core, idolatry is putting me first.

Some of you may remember my sermon on The Ten Commandments from a few weeks ago. I taught you how to remember all ten commandments. Do you recall how to remember the first commandment, you shall have no other gods before me? You point your pointer finger into the sky and remember to put God first and that there are no other Gods but the one true God. Do you remember the second commandment? You remember it with the number 2 and how a two looks like a bowing person or a tiny idol. The second commandment is, you shall not make for yourself an image. An image is an idol.

The first two commandments God gave the Israelites in Exodus 20 are no God but me and no idols. By Exodus 32, the Israelites have already broken both commandments when they worship the golden calf. Today I want to address the problem of idolatry with three questions: 1) Why do we commit idolatry? 2) What are the consequences of idolatry? And 3) How can we overcome and have hope?

1) Why do we commit idolatry? (Ex 32:1-9)

Why do the Israelites put God second? Think of everything God has done for them. He delivered all two million of them from slavery in Egypt through ten supernatural plagues. Then he lead them to the Red Sea where the people thought they would perish, and supernaturally delivers them by parting the waters and they walk across on dry land. Then God delivers them from dehydration and starvation in the wilderness by providing water and manna from heaven.

But if that isn’t enough, God says the Israelites will be his people and he will be their God (Ex 6:7). God and Israel will have a special relationship no other nation has. Throughout the Old Testament God compares their relationship to a marriage. God is their husband and they are his wife. God says, “Here’s a list of expectations you need to follow to be in relationship with me, the ten commandments and the law.” And in Exodus 24 the Israelites say, “We agree.” These are their wedding vows. In fact, in Exodus 24, the leaders of Israel and God h

Something I’ve learned from living near Boston is that we love people from here. We take immense pride in claiming our native Bostonians. If you think this is a recent phenomenon, it’s not. Boston Magazine calls “John and Abigail Adams “Boston’s original power couple.” Closer by, the locals in Concord remind everyone Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of them. The Kennedys, John and Ted, they’re Beacon Hill royalty. Robert Frost grew up in Lawrence. Conan O’Brien, a tall red-headed comedian on late night, is from Brookline. Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler is from here, but we try to forget that…

In a video about this phenomenon a guy from Revere jokingly lists his top 5 favorite actors; “Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg, Casey Affleck… Donny Wahlberg.” And if you ask anyone who the greatest quarterback of all time is they will all agree it’s Peyton Manning… Just kidding, Tom Brady. Goat!

Almost to a fault, we claim these people as our own. We ignore things like deflate-gate because, “They’re one of us.” Intentionally, or unintentionally, because of this, these people come to represent us. When people think of Boston, they think of Brady, Kennedy, Wahlberg, Affleck, and Damon. They wear our name with pride so we bear their name with pride.

It’s not so different for the people of Israel. They’re the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God renamed Jacob to Israel. That’s why they’re called the Israelites. Jacob had twelve sons and those twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel, which are now camped at Mount Sinai to hear from God. At Sinai, God gives them another type of representative, not a geopolitical representative, but a spiritual representative. He will represent the people before God. This is the high priest.

The High Priest bears the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. (Ex 28:1-21)

In Exodus 28, God describes what the new Israelite priests should wear. What starts out as a seemingly boring chapter on fashion, tells us how people can have a relationship with God through the high priest. The high priest intercedes for the people to God. To intercede is “to speak on someone else’s behalf.” He does this by clothing himself in holy garments, offering sacrifice, and entering into God’s holy presence.

A Holy Outfit

Verse 2 tells us the garments the high priest wears are “sacred” or “holy”. He wears these garments so he can enter into the tabernacle, which has a holy place and a most holy place inside. The most holy place is where God presence resides over the ark. In order to go inside, the high priest needs to be symbolically clothed with holiness. And so every piece of the garment is designed for this purpose:

Underneath it all the priests wear linen undergarments (underwear). Foreign cults worshipped their gods with nakedness, but God expects a different kind of worship (Ex 20:26, 28:42).

Over this they wear a checkered linen tunic (think argyle-ish) and an embroidered sash made of blue, purple, and scarlet needlework yarn, which matches the tabernacle’s curtains (Ex 26:1, 28:39, 39:29). For the priest to work in the tabernacle, he needs to reflect the tabernacle’s design.

Most priests wear the undergarments, tunic, sash, and a cap (Ex 29:3-9), but only the high priest wears a blue robe (Ex 29:31). Later blue is used to symbolize God’s commandments (Num 15:37-40). The blue connects obedience and holiness, they go together.

Woven in the robe’s hem are yarn pomegranates and gold bells (Ex 28:33). King Solomon decorates the temple with 400 pomegranates (1 Kg 7:42), reminding us of original holiness in Eden. Just like you know fundraising is taking place when you hear the bellringers at Christmas, when they heard the high priest’s bells jingling, they knew worship of God was taking place, and to be reverent.

The high priest wears an ephod, which is a gold, blue, purple, and scarlet apron (Ex 28:6). On his shoulders are two black onyx stones (Ex 28:9), inscribed with the names of the tribes to be a “memorial before the Lord

When Pastor Jonathan asked me to preach on this section of scripture, I said, “no.”  This section of scripture is where when I first decided to read through the Bible that I stopped reading.  I knew that in order to preach on this I would have to start in the garden of Eden, forward to the tabernacle, then to the temple and then forward to Jesus and then point to the end of time.

I would also have to study each of the things in the tabernacle. But, Jonathan asked me 3 times and so I agreed.  But, I had no idea how I would preach on these verses. So, I did like I usually do and I prayed.  I have learned that if I ask God for direction that I can depend on Him to guide me. I know that God is with me and that God is also with you.

As I began to pray God brought to my mind:  I grew up on a small chicken farm in Dracut and at the age of eight my parents separated and we had to move to the city.  I was lost there and so when I was old enough I bought a house in Chelmsford and I set out to recreate my home in Dracut.  I planted apple and pear trees, grape vines and from time to time we had chickens.  Many times I thought of putting in a well even though we have town water. 

When I agreed to preach on this section of scripture Pastor Jonathan let me borrow a book on Exodus that he has been using. The chapter on the tabernacle began like this. Are you a wonderer or a nester?  Everyone is either looking for home or trying to create a home. Knowing that God is with me makes my work so much easier.  My hope today is that you will begin to understand that God is with you too.  My hope is that you will learn to trust God for everything! 

Let’s pray; God I thank you that you are a God who desires to dwell with your people; a God that loves us and a God who is close by to guide us and direct us.  I pray that you would open our minds and our hearts to you this evening.  Amen.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth and He placed Adam and his new bride in a perfect place. It will be important in the sermon later on to remember that this place was perfect.  This was a place of peace and a place where God walked with His people and dwelt close to them. When man sinned he was kicked out of the garden and life became hard.  Adam was lost and there was a divide between him and God. But God had a plan. He would begin to recreate this perfect place and would find a way to bring man back. God watched man from a distance and never stopped loving him.

When God saw his people in slavery in Egypt and when they cried out to Him, He sent Moses to rescue them. God spoke to Moses and through Moses. And, God led the people out of Egypt to the promise land. This promise land was to be a taste of the new Eden. The tabernacle is one stop along the way back home for God’s people.  All of the tabernacle and its furnishings were little symbols of what was lost in Eden and what was come in the new Eden at the end of time. Remember that in the beginning God created everything.  But now man receives the instructions to build the tabernacle.  Tabernacle means dwelling. God is going to dwell with man again; kinda. It wouldn’t be the same but God would be present with them. Everything had to be made from the finest materials and everything had to be precise. The tabernacle was mostly like a tent as the people of God were on the move.  God would go where ever they went. 

Let’s look at a few of the articles in the tabernacle. There was to be a lamp stand with buds and blossoms giving light and being a reminder of the tree of life in the garden.  There would be a table for bread; a table is a place of fellowship with God.  And bread is God’s provision.  Then there would be the ark which was to be God’s footstool.  Isaiah 66:1 says that Heaven is God throne and the earth is His footstool.  God would still be in Heaven but his feet would be resting on earth with us. Later on in Jeremiah 3:16-17 we see that the city of Jerusalem would become God’s throne. God’s

I like to play games. Tomorrow night I’m having some friends over to play board games. One of my favorites is called Balderdash. It’s a game where one person looks up an unknown, strange, word in the dictionary, writes down the correct definition, and everyone else makes up a definition for the word as well. Then everyone tries to guess the correct definition.

We actually own an official version of balderdash, which includes five different categories, one of which is “laughable laws.” I’m going to give you three examples of the laws.

“In Sweden, it is against the law to try and train your… (now you try to think of what the answer might be…) The correct answer is, “In Sweden, it is against the law to try and train your pet seal to do tricks.”

“In West Virginia, it is unlawful for any clergyman to… tell a joke, while on the pulpit.

“In Boston, Massachusetts, it is against the law to put tomatoes… in clam chowder. That’s right!

Someone cared enough to get these strange laws passed, but do any of them really apply to us? It’s easy to feel the same way about the laws in the Old Testament. Do they really apply to us? We don’t have a slave, and if we did, we certainly wouldn’t pierce his ear with an awl to signify he is our servant for life (Ex 21:6). We would never put our kids to death if we heard them cursing us (Ex 21:17). And we’re not planning on asking our neighbor to store our ox, so we’re not too worried about our ox getting stolen (Ex 22:10).

Should we interpret the law as a strict code we need to obey, as general principles, or should we ignore it? Today, I want us to ask… How does the Law apply to the Israelites, to Christ, and to Christians?

How did the Law apply to the Israelites?

To answer this question, we need to go back to the original promise God made the Israelite’s forefather. God promised Abraham that he would bless the whole world through his descendants (Gen 12:2-3). God gives them the law to help them accomplish that mission (Ex 19:5-6). See, Genesis 12 tells us that God is going to use the nation of Israel to orchestrate his plan of salvation for the whole world. Exodus 19 tells us that each generation’s participation in this plan depends on their obedience to the law. I read an article by The Village Church, the church Pastor Matt Chandler serves, in which they broke the law down three ways:

1. The Law distinguishes Israel.

The law makes the Israelites stand out from the crowd. They’re a special nation, not ruled by a human king, but by God himself. They’re a “theocracy”, which is “a form of government which God rules through laws interpreted by religious leaders”—like priests, prophets, judges, or elders. Have you ever been to a party where there’s that one kid who is dressed up way more than everyone else? He’s wearing a three-piece suit and a fedora. He stands out in the crowd, doesn’t he? Israel is to stand out, not in an awkward adolescent way, but in a “holy” way. They’re God’s people. The law distinguishes Israel.

2. The Law restrains spiritual and physical evil.

The law teaches the Israelites to not worship God like the foreign cults through idol worship or inhuman practices, thus restraining spiritual evil (Ex 20:25-26). The law also teaches Israel to protect at-risk classes of people, such as slaves, women, and the unborn, thus restraining physical evil (Ex 21:2, 22).

The law restrains evil with consequences. Exodus 21:23–25 says, “But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. (NIV®) Maybe you’ve heard Ghandi’s quote, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” This law is designed to restrain violence, not enflame it. Instead of punishing a crime with an unfair punishment that provokes retaliation, the punishment is to match the crime, doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, male or female, young or old.

When we see a 55mph speed limit, you probably drive somewh

The Ten Commandments… chances are, you have heard of the Ten Commandments. Maybe you watched the old 1956 movie, The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston as Moses and Yul Brynner as Ramses. I watched all 3 hours and 40 minutes of that movie as a child and I’m sure I felt both boredom and accomplishment, boredom because it is a slow movie, but accomplishment because I survived.

Today, the Ten Commandments are a cultural icon of sorts. We don’t just think about the Bible when we hear them referenced. We think about Hollywood and Jay Leno walking the street asking pedestrians if they can name the Ten Commandments. Or we think of politics, education, and whether or not the commandments should be displayed on government or town property. No longer do they come to us as a list of laws for the Israelites after they left Egypt. They come to us with emotions, memories, and pre-formed opinions.

The first time I learned about the Ten Commandments was probably in Sunday school or from my parents. They came to me as a list of rules, given to us by God, which we must obey. But for a long time, I’m not sure I really understood what they mean. If Jay Leno were to stop and ask you, “Can you list the Ten Commandments?” would you be able to do it? More importantly, what if your friend asked you, “What are the Ten Commandments about?” could you tell him or her? Jesus actually had something similar happen to him. One day an expert in the Old Testament law asked Jesus this.

Matthew 22:36-40  “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (NIV®)

Here, Jesus gives the heart of the law which helps us remember the heart of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments teach us to love God and love neighbor. As we look at the law, we’re going to see some pretty straightforward laws that make sense, like the Ten Commandments, but other laws about sacrifices and bulls that feel like they have nothing to do with us. This is why we take each law and ask, how can they help us love God or love neighbor? What’s the principle in them? Today, I want to look at the principles in the Ten Commandments, and how they teach us to love God and love neighbor.

The first four commandments teach us to love God. (Ex 20:1-11)

By chapter 20 of Exodus, Moses has lead the Israelites out of Egypt to Mount Sinai to meet God. Last week the Israelites prepared to meet God by washing and purifying themselves, but when God came down on the mountain, the people didn’t go up to meet him. They were too frightened and too unholy in their hearts to enter into direct relationship with God. But God still wants to enter into relationship with the Israelites, so he gives them laws by which they can know him and obey him.

The first set of laws he gives the Israelites is the Ten Commandments, which are like their version of the U.S. Bill of Rights. Chapters 21-24 of Exodus are like Case Laws that explain how their Bill of Rights are put into practice everyday. The Bill of Rights were the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution that were designed to protect the liberties of its people. Likewise, the Ten Commandments are given by God to protect the spiritual and physical liberties of his people. The first four commandments teach the Israelites to love and know the one true God. They give principles for the people’s vertical relationship with God. The next six, the 5th through the 10th, give principles for people’s horizontal relationship with each other.

Before we go through the Commandments, pause and look at verse two, which says, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (NIV®) Before God ever asks his people to do anything, he pours out his love on them. He frees