THE KING’S BUSINESS 409 LESSON X —September 7. —T he T en C ommandments ( P art I).— Exod. 19:1—20:21. G olden T ext .— Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.—Luke 10:27. I. P reparation for G iving the L aw . and inapproachable holiness of Him whose perfect will they had so blindly and so glibly vowed wholly to fulfill.
1. The Sinaitic Sanctuary. This vast auditorium, solitary, majestic, awe-inspir ing, with its granite spires, and walls of rugged and eternal rock, was built, in the beginning to be the scene of the promulga tion of those principles of righteousness, with their sanctions, on which the moral kingdom is founded. 2. The Divine Proposition. Israel’s re peated failure to grasp the meaning and appreciate the grace of their redemption demanded a change of method. It is indi cated in one word— "if.” Till now there had been no ifs. There are no ifs in grace. Promise and performance were uncondi tioned from Abramic “I will give” (Gen. 13:15, cf.), to Mosaic “I will deliver” (Exod.- 3:8 ).' Those promises still stood, and do stand (Rom. 11:29). "If ye will obey” (19:5). It was already evident that Israel would not and could not obey. This, then, they must learn; and this the Law was given to teach (Gal. 4:24). 3. The People’s Answer. “All that Je hovah hath spoken we will do” (19:8). The answer should have been, “We cannot obey” (Rom. 7:14-19). We hope in Thy mercy, and claim Thy promise (Rom. 4:13), Then there would have been no Law on flintv tables, but on fleshly hearts where, after all, it must be written if the kingdom comes (2 Cor. '3:3;' Jer. 30:33). Teacher, do you understand? If not, you cannot teach the lesson, which is not to teach law but the impossibility ’of law and the necessity of grace. Let there be no ifs; no, “keep the covenant” (19:5), but, only, “Trust the promise” (Rom. 4:20-21; cf. 6:1, 2). 4. The Sanctifications, 19:10-14. The three days of purification and separation Were to make them sensible of the inward filthiness::which could not be cleansed bv outward washings (Job 9:31; Jer. 2:22); and'to impress them with the immaculate
5. The Demonstrations (19:9, 16-25). No sooner had Israel rejected grace and chosen law than their gracious Friend re tired to the “thick cloud” (19:9), and there followed thunders, lightning, trumpet blasts, Sinai all on a smoke like a furnace; bounds were set to the mountain, for if “even if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned” (Heb. 12:20), and so terrible was the sight that Moses said, “I exceedingly fear and quake” ( Heb. 12:21), What a difference whether one meets Je hovah on terms of grace or terms of law ! There was none of these terrors when God walked with Enoch, or talked with Abra ham, or watched over sleeping Jacob (Gen. 5:24; 18:18, 19; 28:12-15). But now He has suddenly become “The great and ter rible God,” “a consuming fire.” Teacher, do you understand? Beware of putting your pupils under this law; it was not meant for them; it can do them no good; it came not to save, but to slay (Rom. 7: 10, 11) ; “By deeds of law shall no flesh be justified in His sight” (Rom. 3:20). Preach the Gospel of Romans 3 :28. To lead to that is the purpose of the Law. Make no mistake here—ymillions will. 11. How the L aw W as G iven . 1. By An Audible Voice. This solemn enactment was made by Jehovah direct to the people. Clear on the desert air, they heard “The Ten Words.” He Who uttered them at Sinai was the same Who inter preted them at Galilee (Matt. 5-7); and this miracle was justified by the momentous business on hand (Deut. 4:13, 33; Heb. 12:19). 2. On Tables of Stone. The words were graved by God’s own hand. It was His hand- (“finger-”) writing. As He Himself uttered them, so Himself wrote them. There
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