God's Way of Life Is Characterized by Freedom!

This next Thursday is the 4th of July. And here in this country, when you and I think about the 4th of July, we have a number of things that go through our minds. We may think about picnics, family outings, going to the beach, any number of things that we like to do on the 4th of July. Certainly, one of the things we think about as Americans is the concept of freedom. On this date, the Continental Congress, 4th of July, declared that the 13 American colleagues were no longer subject to the British Crown.

The Congress actually voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2nd, but it was not declared until July 4th. So freedom to us as Americans is a big deal. And we've got, I believe, a correct concept of that in many, many ways. But there are wrong concepts of freedom that I want to talk a little bit about at this point.

And certainly, one of the wrong concepts, or a number of the wrong concepts regarding freedom, have to do with the theology that some believe. Some people, needless to say, have erroneous concepts of theology. Some see the Old Covenant as lacking in freedom. Some say God's law is a burden. God's law is something that doesn't give us the proper freedom. Now, let's take a look at 2 Peter 2. Let's see what the Bible has to say about some of this particular concept.

2 Peter 2. 2 Peter 2, verse 1. But there are also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, talking to the New Covenant, New Testament Church, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. Brethren, this has always been the case.

False teachers bringing in heresies trying to do this to the people of God. But you drop on down to verse 19. While they promise them liberty, while they promise them freedom, they themselves are slaves of corruption, for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. We don't want to be in theological bondage, and you and I aren't. A Christian is called away from the spiritual bondage of superstition.

We have been called away from spiritual error. We've been called away from spiritual deception and guilt. We've been called away from a destructive lifestyle. We've been called away from being a captive of Satan facing eternal death. As Christians, we have known, come to know, because of God's great mercy.

God has opened our minds to a proper understanding of what real freedom is, real liberty is. We have been called to liberty in Jesus Christ, receiving forgiveness of our sins through His shed blood. Now we can know the freedom that comes from getting away from guilt. We can know the freedom of having our sins forgiven. Jesus Christ came to bring a message of true freedom. Let's take a look at that in Luke 4. As I'm turning there, the reason we're going through this is because we have a day coming up next week on Thursday that talks about freedom, talks about liberty.

I thought it would be good for us to talk about Christian liberty that God has given to us, and more specifically, that God has given to us through His law. Luke 4, verse 16. Luke 4, verse 16. So He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. Now, this was Jesus Christ's custom. I'm not going to turn there, but when you see at the end of Matthew, Matthew 28, what did Jesus Christ command His disciples to do?

By the time we come to Matthew 28, He's been crucified, He's been resurrected, we're into the New Covenant, and what did Jesus Christ say at the end of Matthew 28? He said, tell people to observe whatever I have commanded you, and what did Jesus Christ command? One of the things He commanded was keeping the Sabbath. Verse 17, Luke 4, 17. And He was handed a book of the prophet Isaiah, and when He had opened the book, He found a place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, and has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty, to proclaim freedom to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Now, we went through a sermon recently where we talked about the gospel being preached in the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. We talked about how Timothy, when he was a young man, knew the Scriptures that would lead him to salvation, and all the Scriptures he had was of the Old Testament. And here we see Jesus Christ proclaiming liberty, proclaiming freedom.

That's the message that Jesus Christ brought. So, as we are celebrating this coming Thursday, the freedom we have in this country, celebrating that on July 4th, let's understand the freedom we have as God's people. And if you'd like to take notes, here's my theme statement for today's sermon. The theme statement is this. God's way of life is characterized by freedom. God's way of life is characterized by freedom. Now, the world has all sorts of erroneous concepts of freedom in Christ, but we're going to take a look at what the Bible says, where true freedom really comes from, the freedom you and I, that we all enjoy.

Let's start our discussion by going over to John 8.

You know, I think Mr. Fay used to have a tradition of having a fan up here.

I think we need to reinstate that tradition. Maybe you want a fan where you're sitting. Well, if we've got enough fans, we can do that. But I know I need a fan here. Somebody's got to do it right now, but I'm sure I'll lose five pounds by the time we're done today.

John 8, verse 31. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. If you abide, if you dwell, if you hold, another way you can translate, if you hold on to the Word, of God, you will be My disciples. Verse 32, And you shall know the truth. And you know what you might want to jot down John 17, 17. What is the truth? God's Word is truth. And you shall know the truth. You shall know God's Word. And the truth will make you free. The truth will make you free. So Christ here is talking about real freedom. In my Bible, most of these words I've just read in verse 31 and 32 are all in red. Real freedom from abiding in the Word. Not what people say about the Word, what the Word actually says. And one of the things that we have learned in our trek through the Church of God, as we have come to services and feasts and so forth, as we look into the Word of God, we try to live by every word of God. Yes, we've got literature, we've got booklets, and all those things are wonderful, but we always have to keep our noses in this Book. And you have been very good at doing that. Now, these people that Christ is talking to were under some sort of delusion that they were free. Verse 33, then they asked them, We are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone. Oh, really? Has Rome just disappeared as Christ was speaking? They've never been in bondage to anyone? How can you say you will be made free? Verse 34, then Jesus answered, And most assuredly I say to you, Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And we know what sin is. It's breaking the law of God. We don't want to be slaves. We are free people because we understand where that freedom comes from. Verse 35, A slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if the son makes you free, you are free indeed. Free indeed as we obey God the Father and Jesus Christ. Let's drill down a little bit more into this idea of freedom through obeying God and God's law. Let's turn to Psalm 119. Psalm 119, verses 44 and 45.

Psalm 119, beautiful Psalm here in so many ways, talks about the law of God in such great detail. Psalm 119, verse 44, So shall I keep your law continually for ever and ever, and as he keeps that law, notice verse 45, And I will walk at liberty, for I seek your precepts. Notice the connection between walking in God's law and walking in liberty. Now, you may have family, you may have friends, you may have business associates, and many times you may get into conversations. Maybe they bring up this idea about how you were in such bondage because of what you believe. Well, they're welcome to believe what they believe. But our minds have been opened to the truth of God, and we see right here that we are the ones who are really walking free as we obey the laws of God. Each one of the commandments has an aspect that relates to the freedom we have in Jesus Christ. Not bondage. We're not a slave to something other than being a bond slave to God the Father and Jesus Christ. Which is a good thing. But we're not, as people want to say, we're under such bondage, we're not under any bondage, we're free. You know, what was it said, I forget, I didn't look this up, but over in the book of Acts, I think they were talking about Paul, maybe Silas, and saying, These guys have turned the world upside down. Well, no, the world is already upside down. Paul and his entourage there were preaching the truth, but to the world it looked upside down. Continuing to drill down, let's go to the book of James. The book of James, written by Jesus Christ's half-brother.

James chapter 1. James chapter 1 and verse 25.

Well, we're going to see in just a moment what law we're looking at here. You know the law it's talking about, but we'll, in context, see what's being spoken of here by James. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty, law that brings freedom and continues in it, who obeys it, who honors it, lives by it, continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, the doer of keeping the law of liberty. This one will be blessed in what he does. Blessed because true freedom is found there. We go over to chapter 2 of James, verse 8.

Here we have... Behold, there was a fan.

Thank you, sir. Appreciate that.

Now all I need is a cold drink and some ice.

Something with an umbrella in it. That's a little too comforting, though. Spirit really would be flowing. Verse 8, James 2.8. If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture... Notice it's a royal law. Not a law of bondage. It's a royal law according to the Scripture. Then he quotes the Scripture. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. You do well. Well, when we're talking about you shall love your neighbor as yourself. How did Christ define that? Well, I'm not going to turn there, but in your notes you can jot down Mark 12. Mark 12, verses 28 through 31. Christ was asked, how do you summarize? What's the number one law? He talked about loving God, loving neighbor there in that section of Mark. So he was summarizing the Ten Commandments by saying there's two basic concepts here. And so James is saying the same thing. If you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, we drop down to verse 12, chapter 2 here. So speak and do so of those who will be judged by the law of liberty. So here God's law, the Ten Commandments, are talked about a royal law. They're talked about as a law of liberty or freedom. Each of the Ten Commandments, brethren, is a guide to the good life. God's way of looking at the good life, and that's the only way it accounts when it's talking about what we're trying to accomplish. A life full of blessing. That's why the Bible calls them the royal law and the law of liberty. Now, what I want to do from here on out is start going through the Ten Commandments. Start going through the Ten Commandments. And this sermon's going to be open-ended. I have no idea how long I'll be going here today. If it takes me two sermons, it takes me two. If it takes me three, we'll go three. Whatever. Hopefully it won't take ten.

But we're going to take a look at the Ten Commandments. Truly, there are ten keys to a successful, happy life. Each one points out an aspect of freedom that God gives to us, that God grants us. There's so much you could say about each one of the Ten Commandments. I'm just wanting to focus on this in terms of the concept of freedom, the concept of liberty. You know, meet and do season. Commandment number one. Commandment number one.

Freedom by knowing life's first priority. Freedom from knowing life's first priority. Again, there's so many things you can say about each of the Commandments, but I want to focus in on this idea of freedom, this idea of liberty. Let me read for you Exodus 20, verse 3. You shall have no other gods before me, no other gods. Brethren, establishing, developing, and maintaining a personal relationship with the true and living God is the most important commitment we can ever make. It's the most important decision we will ever make. When I'm counseling people for baptism, I say, this is the most important decision you will ever make, more so than counseling for marriage or anything else. Because you're talking about your eternal relationship with the great God.

This is the primary focus of that first commandment, developing that relationship with the true and living God. It's life's first priority. Now, by contrast, look what Satan has done to the world. The world is awash in a sea of false number one priorities. Satan is very good at misdirection. Satan is very good at people seeking after things that maybe aren't bad of and by themselves, but they are bad when they are placed as the number one priority in that person's life. Satan loves to put us on a treadmill where we're like the rat or the mouse that just keeps on running and running and not going anywhere forward. He wants us to misuse time. He wants us to waste our efforts as we're chasing various things that we think that the world may think are priority number one. And so when God tells us, you shall have no other gods before me, God is cutting through all of that garbage to let us know what the true priority in life is. We don't have to be misguided, misdirected. We don't have to waste time. We know what God wants from us.

Think of it. Some people are consumed with getting physical things as opposed to spiritual things. Some people are trying to acquire financial wealth instead of spiritual riches. Some people covet power or prestige or status instead of godly humility and godly service. Now, am I against people having things? Of course not. In the right bounds, in the right order of priority. Is it wrong to be wealthy? Of course not. Some of the people we see in the Scriptures, where did Noah get the money to build that ark? I don't know. We think that Abraham was probably a fairly well-to-do individual. It's not the job. It's not that money of itself is wrong. It's only a tool. And if we use that tool to worship God as number one, then our priorities are in sync. But if our priorities have all the money or all the physical things, and God is left out of the picture, then we become slaves. So the First Commandment deals with life's first priority. Now, where is Satan in all of this? You know, I gave a sermon not that long ago, maybe a year or so ago, and we looked at a number of his names. Satan, the name Satan, in Job chapter 1 verse 6. I'm not going to turn there. But when you look at Job 1.6, the brown driver Briggs Hebrew and English lexicon definition of Satan means a superhuman adversary. Satan is our superhuman adversary. He would love to have you and I chasing after the wrong priorities. And yet, thankfully, because we are following God, because God has graciously opened up our hearts and minds, we see Commandment number one, and we see the true priority. And that's what we go for. That's what we put our time and efforts into. But Satan, the superhuman adversary, let me quote a couple of Scriptures here. You can put those in your notes. I'm not going to turn there. Revelation 12.9. Revelation 12.9. Satan deceives the whole world. He would love to deceive you and I as to what our priority should be, our first priority.

We know better. God's Spirit and the Scriptures teach us better. 2 Corinthians 4.4. Again, we'll turn there. 2 Corinthians 4.4. Satan blinds the mind of those who live in this age. Doesn't want them to understand what true priorities are. Wants us to go chasing for the wind.

You know, the wind is awful hard to grab. Satan would love us to try to grab that. Let's take a look at 1 John. John, toward the end of his life, began to write about a number of things. And certainly he was writing about, in 1 John 2, priorities.

And here the Apostle John, in the 90s AD, is writing about false priorities. Things we don't want to have as a number one priority. 1 John 2. You know where I'm going. 1 John 2.15. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Again, John is saying to the brethren here, to all of us, over the course of generations and hundreds of years of time, don't go after the world. Don't make the world a priority. And then he gets even more specific here in verse 16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. Now here we see three major priorities that people can stumble upon. And we're going to see in just a moment where Satan the devil is taking on Jesus Christ, and Satan the devil is going to use these priorities to try to get Christ to stumble.

If Satan thinks he can use these to cause Christ to stumble, how much more so would he think I'm trying these strategies on you and I? Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. Verse 17, and the world is passing away in the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. And what is God's will? Commandment number one. No other gods before the true God. That's life's first priority. Anything that infringes on that, we're hurting ourselves. So I may mention that Satan used this against Jesus Christ. Let's turn to that section. Let's take a look at a case example here. Matthew 4, verses 1-4.

Matthew 4.

Matthew 4, verse 1. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Again, Jesus Christ is being proactive here. He's seeking Christ. You know, God, Father, and Jesus Christ are seeking out the devil. It's not the Christ that's going through life and all of a sudden Satan pounces on him. Christ has got work to do. He's going to take care of business here. Verse 2. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, afterward he was hungry. Now the tempter came. Satan, the superhuman adversary. Satan, the tempter came to him. He said, If you are the Son of God, command these stones become bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So what do we see here? John says, talked about the lust of the flesh. What is Satan using here? The lust of the flesh. You're hungry. You've got need. You've got to take care of that need. What's so wrong with taking care of it? You did your 40 days and 40 nights.

Now, command these stones.

The lust of the flesh. And Christ fought off that misdirection that Satan was wanting him to go. Verse 5. Then the devil took him up into the holy city, set him on a pinnacle of the temple. Now, Satan is interesting because he sees where Christ uses Scripture to beat him off. And so Satan says, Well, okay, you want to use Scripture? I can use Scripture. And so Satan here, the devil, begins to use Scripture, but he begins to twist the Scripture. He doesn't quote everything here. Then the devil took him up into the holy city, set him on a pinnacle of the temple, very high up, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down for it as written, He shall give his angels charge over you.

And in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Well, there was a section there that Satan left out about God's will. So here we see where Satan is basically saying, you know, if you are who you say you are, do something spectacular for everybody to see. You know, you jump off the pinnacle here of the temple, and the angels come, and they catch you, and they bring you down softly. Ooh, people are going to say, that's really something.

What is Satan using? Satan is using the lust of the eyes. The lust of the eyes.

Verse 7, Jesus said to him, It is written, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. Then the third time you're verse 8, Then the devil took him up in an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory. And at this point, Satan is the God of the world. This world, correct? And he said to him, All these things I will give you if you fall down and worship me.

If you go away from life's number one priority, and you worship me. Forget about going to the cross or the stake. Just worship me, and you don't even have to go through all that terribleness at the end of your life.

All these things I will give you if you fall down and worship me. And Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. What does Jesus Christ say in response? Here we've got the pride of life that we saw in 1 John 2, verse 16. Satan is using the pride of life. I'll give you all these kingdoms. Don't have to go through all that terribleness at the end of your life. Just worship me. And Christ responds in verse 10, I know life's number one priority. I know commandment number one. And he beats Satan the devil. So commandment number one is the freedom we have in knowing life's first priority. We can skate through everything else. We know what our number one priority is because the first commandment teaches us that. We don't have to struggle. We don't have to strain. We don't have to agonize. Well, what should I do? We know what to do because our loving Father has given us our first priority. And that is loving Him and honoring Him. Commandment number two.

Commandment number two deals with freedom and knowing the proper way to worship the only true God. The freedom and knowing the proper way to worship the only true God.

Let me read for you Exodus chapter 20, verses 4 through 6. Exodus 24 through 6, the second commandment. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers unto children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to the thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. The second commandment, brethren, goes to the heart of our relationship with our great Creator. It gives us the freedom to know how we should properly worship this God who is our number one priority. What is the proper way to worship the only true God? We, even by ourselves, wouldn't know that. God's got to teach us that through the Word we saw in John chapter 8. The Word we are dwelling in, the Word we're holding on to, the Word we're abiding in, the truth, as it says in John 17, 17. The Scriptures. What is the proper way to worship the only true God? People make fun of what you and I believe. And over the course of time, you know, people have come to me and they've come to me and they've come to me. You know, people have come to me and they've come to my wife. But prior to moving here to Illinois, I think if I've got the story correct.

No, prior to coming here in Illinois, somebody Mary was working with, and she worked with a lot of great people. But this one person needed to sell their home. And they were told, if you take a certain idol of a... I forget what the idol is supposed to be now, but it was in this particular faith. Take this idol and bury it upside down in your front lawn that God's going to bless you and you'll be able to sell your house sooner.

And we're strange? Forgive me, we're not. Or people who say, well, for 40 days I'm going to give up something. What am I going to give up this year? 40 days. Well, I'm going to give up swearing. Shouldn't we be giving that up from the time we're baptized? Before we're baptized? The second commandment goes to the heart of how we properly worship the only true God. The second commandment tells us how we should perceive that true God. Is he a being on two legs with the head of a frog? Ahead of a cow? A crocodile? How do we perceive the true God? The second commandment helps us understand life's first priority. Through the second commandment, God tells us, mankind, don't try to tell me what I am like. Human beings, don't try and tell me what I am like, because you're going to get it wrong if you try to, out of your own mind, come up with what I am like. I will tell you what I am like. Any representation you make of me will diminish me. And we don't want to diminish the great God. We want the freedom that comes with understanding who God is, what he is, by looking into what he says about himself. Not what we conjure up in our minds, or what we may think. God tells us what we should think through the Scriptures. A couple of years ago, as we were preparing for Passover, I went through the Ten Plagues of Egypt. And here God was assailing each of a number of the gods of Egypt, showing they were no gods. Plague number one was against the Nile River. The Nile River was viewed as Osiris's bloodstream. We're free from having to think about that as an image of God. Plague number two was the frogs. The Egyptians regarded frogs as having divine power. In their pantheon, the frog god was Heiket, had the form of a woman with a frog's head. We are free from that. We have liberty from that. Let's turn to Romans 1.

Romans 1.

Verse 20, For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power in Godhead, so they are without excuse. Even those who aren't called, they are without excuse. Don't worship the Creator. Worship the Creator. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professingly wise, He became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. So, the Apostle Paul here is rejecting what people of his day were thinking as the true God. Simply, they were enslaved these false ideas. You and I have been liberated from those false ideas. Now, we can think, ah, those ancient peoples. Those ancient peoples. We're not like that today. Oh, really?

Do we have our American idols? I'm not talking about the singing program. I used to watch American Idol with my wife all the time, until it went off the air. I know it's been resurrected, but we've not taken that back up. I used to watch that and kind of pull for various ones back in the day. I don't watch that anymore. But do we have our American idols?

Well, I don't know that many people go, and there's some little niche in their house, and they've got some statue or something. But there are American idols that we have issues with. We've got the idol of materialism. People have used that as their number one priority. The idol of materialism. The American Heritage Dictionary defines materialism this way. The theory or doctrine that physical well-being and worldly possessions constitute the greatest good and the highest value in life. And a lot of people go that direction. For a lot of people, that's their number one priority. Now, in doing the research for this sermon, I ran into a lot of people who were interested in the idea of the and it was unattributed, so I would love to give you whoever said this, but the person was not named. And I quote, In America today, too many people drive to the mall and cars they cannot afford to spend money they don't have to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't like.

I think that's pretty much on target. Too many people drive to the mall and cars they cannot afford to spend money they don't have to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't like. That is the idol of materialism. Now, materialism is primarily an attitude toward money. Again, money is nothing evil of money by itself. Money can be a tremendous tool for good when you've got your priority right.

So, materialism is primarily a matter of reverse priorities, misplaced priorities. Materialism says, Having more will make me happy. Having more will make me feel important. Having more things will make me feel more secure.

Is that an issue in America today?

You know, we've got a great young adults group here in Chicago. Over the years I've worked with young adult groups here and there in different places. And so many of our young adults, as they are starting their life and starting to make their way in life, have come to me and lamented, So, Mr. Del Sandra, I see too many of my peers, some even in the church, where materialism is just too big a thing in their life. It's too big a thing in their life. And we don't want that to be true for us. Matthew 6. Matthew 6.

Matthew 6.

Here in verse 24. Sermon on the Mount. My Bible, all in red. Matthew 6, 24.

No one can serve two masters, for either he'll hate the one and love the other, or else he'll be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You can serve God and materialism.

So that's one of the false idols we might have in this country. We do have in this country. Just want to go give one more example before I move on to the next commandment. The idol of individualism.

The idol of individualism. Have we seen some of that? Have you seen that? I've certainly seen plenty of it. The emphasis in our culture on self-expression, self-esteem, self-fulfillment, all about the individual. Not about the team, but the individual. The me generation. The phrase is, I've got to be me. I've got to find myself. I've got to do what's best for me. I can do it by myself. I don't need anybody's help. The me, me, me attitude. The me generation. You've seen it. I've seen it. You go into a restaurant. You go to different places. People will jump in front of you. Maybe you've been waiting patiently, but they'll jump in front of you. Or they'll cut in front of you as you're driving. Because they want what they want. And they don't care where you are in the scheme of things. They want to take what they can take.

The God of individualism goes way beyond an appreciation for the individual. It proceeds to place the individual on the throne of worship.

Now, the Bible does say, Love your neighbor as yourself. There's a proper way for us to do that. To love ourselves. The Bible gives us guidelines about that. But we've got to be very careful that we don't get to the place where loving ourselves is the number one priority. Because it certainly is not. Let's go to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1 and 2. But know this, that in the last days, our times, perilous times shall come, for men will be lovers of themselves. Men will be lovers of themselves. The idol of individualism. This is what you and I have been freed from. In keeping the second commandment, we have freed ourselves from wrong and misleading concepts as to who and what God is. We've been freed from idolatry. We've been freed from why we were created, for a wrong reason, as to why we were created. All of those things. The freedom we have from Commandment number 2. Commandment number 3. This is the last one we'll get through today. Commandment number 3.

Found in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 7.

Commandment number 3 deals with this particular freedom. And again, there are many more than I can discuss. I'm focusing on just things that came to my mind. Commandment number 3. Freedom in having a proper respect for the only true God.

Freedom in having a proper respect for the only true God.

Exodus chapter 20 and verse 7. The commandment reads this way. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not take him guiltless, who takes his name in vain.

We know what life's number one priority is. Commandment number 1. We know how we are to worship that great God. Commandment number 2. And here builds on that by making sure we have the proper respect for that only true God.

Third commandment focuses on showing respect.

Think of it. What is our society like today in terms of showing respect?

Are we a respectful society?

I don't think we are a respectful society. And yet, if people were keeping the Third Commandment properly, as the Bible outlines for us, there would be a freedom. Now, we, again, are enslaved to people who have a disrespect for almost anything. A disrespect for authority figures, a disrespect for God, His Word, His way of life. And yet, the Third Commandment teaches us, focuses on, the idea of respect. It addresses the way we communicate our feelings about God to God, and as we discuss God with others. It encompasses our attitudes, our speech, our behavior. But it goes beyond that. If we are truly having a proper respect for God, then we are properly respecting His Word. If we are properly respecting His Word, then we will also be properly respecting our fellow man.

Respect is a cornerstone of good relationships, not only with God the Father, but also with our fellow man. And we learn that in His Commandment, that frees us to have a proper respect, to get away from being enslaved in attitudes that are not proper.

God wants us to love and respect Him, honoring Him begins in our thoughts. We must know who He is, what He is. We must know what He requires of us and why. We should admire His wisdom, His love, His fairness, and justice. We should stand in awe of His power and recognize that our existence depends upon Him.

Now, as I was thinking about this particular commandment, I was thinking about words. I was thinking about names. Names and words are vitally important. When used properly, words and names can start a revolution. And when you and I were baptized, we entered into a revolutionary way of thinking. We were not going to think as the world thinks. We were not going to think the way Satan wants us to think. We were going to think the way God wants us to think. And we think about names. We think about honoring and respecting the only true God. We realize that God's name describes His office, offices, His positions, His nature, His character, His authority, His purpose, His truth. So many valuable things. There's no ambiguity. There's no mystery in who God is when we understand the Third Commandment, when we keep our nose in the Book.

And that frees us from so many things that the world is enslaved by and shackled by.

Now, in high school, I had a choice of a foreign language. I could have taken Spanish, which now I wish I had.

I could have taken French, or I could have taken Latin.

Good old Delosandro took Latin. Why did I take Latin? Dead language. Actually, it's spoken in one very small part of Europe, a very small part. But why take Latin?

At the time I was going through high school in the 1960s, I think it was something like 95% of the English language. It has its basis in Latin. And as time was progressing, that percentage was getting bigger and bigger. Because most words have a Latin background. So I felt I wanted to go to Ambassador College, and I wanted to be everything I could be to be accepted at Ambassador College. I thought, well, let's work on vocabulary. And so I took Latin. And I enjoyed Latin class. I enjoyed Latin club. But when we were going through the Gallic Wars and various things about the Romans and what the Romans thought, it was so interesting because God, at that point in my life, was just starting to call me. Just starting to call me. And I was thinking about the Roman gods. I was thinking about the Greek gods and how the Romans and the Greeks thought about their gods. And I'm thinking to myself, these gods are dysfunctional. These gods, they're character. The character is reprehensible. These gods are nothing more than deities that were really like people, only made with greater power. They were awful things.

And so, as I was thinking about this sermon, I was thinking, we have been freed from those concepts, freed from those concepts, and have a proper respect for who God is. We understand what his various names mean. Just a list of few here, and you've had sermons that you've gone through this. In Genesis 22, verse 14. I'm just going to cite these next scriptures here. We're almost done. But in Genesis 22, verse 14, commemorating the provision of the ram in place of Isaac for Abraham's sacrifice, God says, My name is the Lord will provide. We can respect that name in all that it means. The Lord will provide. Jehovah Jira.

Go through life realizing our God provides. He provides on every level of human existence.

In Exodus 17, verse 15. Again, we won't turn to these. Exodus 17, verse 15.

In honor of God defeating the Amalekites, the name of God, Jehovah Nisai, which means the Lord is my banner. He goes in front of the army. He goes in front to make sure we're victorious. That means something for us as we go through life. We want to be victorious in life. As you and I are assailed by the enemies of life. Gideon used the name, the Lord is peace. Jehovah Shalom. In Judges 6, verse 24. The Lord is peace. Isn't that something we desire? Lastly, in 1 Samuel 1.3, we see the name, the Lord of Hosts. The Lord of Hosts, used in the time of David and the prophets talking about the great power of God and the hosts of the angels. And as we go through life, it's nice to know that we've got, you know, we talk about on the days we have the blessing of children, the angels that come and provide and protect for us.

Last scripture today. Let's go to Psalm 145.

Psalm 145. My Bible here, it says, the praise of David. Psalm 145, verse 1. I will extol you, my God, O King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you, and I'll praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.

His greatness is unsearchable. There is a freedom we have in knowing the great name of God. So today, brethren, my point was very simple. God's way of life is characterized by freedom. As we celebrate our freedom as a nation on the 4th of July next Thursday, let's remember the freedoms we have as we look at the law of God. Commandment number 1, freedom in knowing life's first priority. Commandment number 2, freedom in knowing the proper way to worship the only true God. And commandment number 3, 3, freedom in having a proper respect for the one only true God. More next time I'm with you.