Word of Salvation – March 2025

 

God’s Law… For Our Good

 

Sermon by Rev. John Westendorp on W.C.F. ch.19 & Isaiah 48:17

Reading: Isaiah 48:12-19; James 4:12-19; Westminster Confession – ch.19

 

Singing:        BoW.019a     The spacious heavens declare  [1,2,5,6] –                      BoW.119       How shall the young direct their way?
–                      BoW.212       Jesus is all the world to me
–                      BoW.213       Living for Jesus in all that I do

 

Theme: The role of God’s law in the relationship between God and His redeemed people is for their good.

 

Introd:            Boys and girls I have three objects here that I’ve brought in and that are all quite different

I want to ask you some questions about them.

 

The first item isn’t too difficult.  It’s a…? (Street directory)  So what do we want them for?
It has maps that help you make sure you get exactly to the place you need to be.
It will help you work out which road will get you to your destination most quickly.

 

The second one is also easy.  It’s a….?  (Mirror)  So what do we use mirrors for?
You looked in a mirror before church to make sure you had no breakfast on your chin.
While driving to church Dad looks in the car’s mirrors… behind him… where he already been.

 

The last one is a little harder.  It’s a…?  (Brake off a bike)  So why do we need these?
When you’re going too fast downhill and coming to an intersection it’s handy having brakes.
When you find you’re going the wrong way it’s great to have brakes to stop you.

 

Okay, one more question!  Tell me!  What do these three objects all have in common?
Yes!  In some form or other you find all of them in the family car.
All of them are used when we travel… when we go on a journey.

Your Cadet/Gems verse from Isaiah has been used for the theme: On line with God!
The idea that God teaches and directs us is like part of a two-way conversation with the Lord.
Listening to God is like reading messages from someone on an Internet Chat-room.

But I want to show you another way of looking at this verse.  It’s like travelling with God.
And so there is another way in which all three of these objects have something in common.
I’m going to ask you again at the end of the sermon what all three objects have in common.

 

A]        OUR NEED TO BE TAUGHT AND DIRECTED BY GOD.

 

1. Isaiah says that God teaches us and directs us in the way we should go.

But why do why do we need God to teach and direct us?

Lots of people don’t take any notice of God’s directions… and they seem to get along fine.
So why should I take notice of God’s instruction?
Why should you listen to His teaching?

 

To answer that, we need to go right back to the beginning in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.
They were not given lots and lots of instructions.
They were basically given just one key instruction – and that instruction was a test.
Do you remember what that instruction was?
They were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 

We call that the Covenant of Works.  And in that covenant… that test, God made a promise.
He promised that if Adam and Eve kept His instruction they and their children would live.
But if Adam and Eve failed to keep that instruction they and their children would die.
And because Adam and Eve were created good they had the ability to keep that test.

 

Just one simple instruction from God.
But Genesis 3 tells us that Adam and Eve flunked the test.
They ate from the forbidden fruit.
And that had important consequences for all of humanity… including us.
Adam and Eve represented us… so in them we too flunked the test.

2. We could look at the effects of Adam and Eve’s disobedience in another way.

When our first parents ignored God’s instruction the ‘virus’ of sin got into the human race.

 

We all know the damage that a virus can do.
This past winter many of us came down with the flu… or with colds.
Someone else had the bug… the virus… and we caught it from them.
We in turn probably passed it on to others… and the result was that people got sick.

Or there’s the AIDS virus that is sweeping thru parts of Africa.
Just one tiny virus… but it is passed on thru sex… or by injection needles.
It multiplies as it is passed from one person to another… so people get sick and die.

So too when Adam and Even sinned something happened inside them.
And they passed that ‘virus of sin’ onto their children who passed it on to theirs.
Right thru to you and me today.  And the results are devastating… in the end we die.

 

Isaiah, in these chapters, repeatedly shows the outworking of that ‘sin virus’ in his days.
People were stubborn and rebellious… they took advantage of others and oppressed them.
They rejected God and they turned to worthless little tin-pot idols.
And in the end they finished up in exile in Babylon for seventy years.

The outworking of that ‘sin virus’ is just as obvious in our day and age.
And then not only in high school shootings and terrorist suicide bombers.
The results are there in greed and selfishness… in anger and violence.

 

This ‘sin virus’ makes us unable to live life the way we should.
We’re inclined to hate God and we’re doing a good job of destroying each other.
That’s why we need teaching and direction from God if we’re going to do it right.
In fact… we really need much more than for God to teach us and direct us.

 

3. The reality is that we can now no longer keep God’s teachings and instructions.

So we really need something else to happen first.
We need a rescue mission.
We need to be forgiven for ignoring and breaking God’s instructions.
And we need to be renewed and empowered to keep those instructions.

 

And that is precisely what the Gospel is all about.
God is good at rescue missions.  He’s the expert.
Or as the Bible puts it in our text: God is a Redeeming God.
When we sell ourselves to the Devil, God buys us back… He redeems us.

 

In the O.T. part of the Bible we see many of God’s rescue missions.
God rescued His people from Egypt.
And here in Isaiah He promises to deliver them from their exile in Babylon.
And so these instructions and teachings are directed to God’s saved… rescued people.

 

Of course this is all the more wonderfully true for us today.
Thru Jesus God saves and rescues us by forgiving us and renewing us.
All our failures to obey God and listen to Him are forgiven.
And the Spirit of Jesus now fills us and empowers us.

That means that today we can keep God’s teachings.
We can follow His directions when He instructs us.
That ‘virus of sin’ has been dealt with by Jesus’ death on the cross.
Our Redeeming God now teaches and directs us as His saved people.

 

B]        THE TEACHING AND DIRECTION GIVEN BY THE LORD.

 

1. Okay, so saved people living in a fallen world still need teaching and instruction.

But what is that teaching really?  What does it consist of?
The Westminster Confession of Faith makes some very helpful distinctions.

Let me explain by taking you back to the book of Leviticus to see what this instruction included.

 

First: God’s teaching and instruction of Israel included what we call ‘civil’ regulations.
Regulations for Israel as a nation.
In Leviticus 11 we have regulations about health… and the treatment of disease.

For example: God instructs Israel about what it calls ‘clean and unclean foods’.
I’m reading from Leviticus 11:9,10
Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales.  But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales – whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water – you are to detest.
Does that civil direction… this national teaching still apply to us today?
If it did oysters and prawns would be off the menu… so would flake and tuna.

Turn over to Leviticus 13 where God gives instructions about health and disease.
In verse 2 of Leviticus 13 we read:
When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a bright spot on the skin that may become an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest.  The priest is to examine the sore on his skin…!
Does that civil direction… this national teaching still apply to us today?
I hope not.  I can’t imagine myself checking your rashes and sores.

 

These civic directions no longer apply.  But we do learn from them.
We learn that a holy God wanted a holy and healthy people.  They are still instructive.
But today we have our own civil rules and regulations that govern food and health issues.

 

2. These verses from Leviticus show that God’s directions to Israel were very far reaching.

The Jews called the books of Moses the ‘Torah’.
Tora means Law… but then law in its very broadest sense.
All the teachings and instructions given by Moses that covered all areas of life.

 

That teaching also included not only civil laws but also ceremonial instructions regulating worship.
For example in Leviticus 5 there are regulations for how to worship God after you sinned.
I’m reading from Leviticus 5:5 & 6:
When anyone is guilty in one of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned and as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
Do these ceremonial directions… this teaching about worship still apply?
Of course not!  All these sin offerings pointed to Jesus and He has fulfilled them.

In chapter 23 of Leviticus we have regulations for keeping special holy days.
And in verses 5 and 6 we read:
The LORD’S Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.  On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD’S Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast.
Does that ceremonial direction… this teaching about worship still apply?
Not at all.  These special holy days too pointed to Jesus.  He is our Passover Lamb.

 

So these ceremonial directions no longer apply.  But of course we do learn from them today.

We learn that God needed sacrifices for forgiveness of sin… but Jesus brought the perfect sacrifice.

And because Jesus came and fulfilled them these instructions have been cancelled for us.

 

3. However, there is a third group of teachings and instructions.

Alongside the civil and ceremonial laws there were, what we generally call, moral laws.
Laws that have to do with our general behaviour.
And here too God taught Israel and directed them in the way they should go.

 

So what were these moral laws in the Torah?
Well, those moral laws have been summed up in The Big Ten.
And those Ten Commandments are divided into two parts.

In the first four God directs us in our behaviour towards Him.
So God teaches us there to worship Him only… and to worship Him properly.
He directs us to treat His name with respect… and His day as special.

In the last six God directs us in our behaviour to one another.
He teaches us that we are to respect our parents and those in authority.
He directs us not to kill… not to commit adultery… not to steal or lie.
And finally that even desiring to do any of those things is already wrong.

 

Do these moral laws still apply to us today?
Of course they do.
It is just as wrong to murder today as it was in the time of Isaiah.
God still wants to be worshipped today only in accordance with His Word.

So not surprisingly, all these moral laws are all reaffirmed in the N.T.
Jesus spent a great deal of time helping us to understand them better.
So we too are taught and directed in the way we should go by God’s moral law.

 

C]        THE GOD-GIVEN DIRECTIONS ARE FOR OUR GOOD.

 

1. In case you are wondering – I haven’t forgotten those three objects.

I want to link those three things to five key words in this text.  The words: “…what is best for you!”
IOW:    These, God’s teachings, are for our good.
God doesn’t give us these directions to make life difficult for us.
Instead He teaches us these things because He’s concerned about our wellbeing.

So I want to show you three ways in which God’s commandments are good for us.
And I want to link each one to one of those three objects.

 

When we look at the law we see where we go wrong in life.
It shows us where our moral smudges are… it shows up the dirt of our sins and failings.
So which of the three objects is the law most like at this point…?  It’s like the mirror.

 

In the Law of God we have a reflection of the character of a holy God.
And that’s what He is called in our text: the Holy One of Israel.
In contrast there is our unholiness when our lives don’t measure up to God’s teachings.

So in the law of God we see that our sin offends God.
And that will drives us again and again to Jesus for forgiveness.

 

Can you see that God’s directions to us are like a mirror?
We look into that rear-view mirror to see where we have been… what we have done.
And we see in that mirror of the law what was not good.
And that not only drives us to Jesus and make us appreciate the gospel all the more.
It also helps us to hate sin more and more.
Because we realise that it is not what is best for us and it displeases God.

 

2. But there is a second way in which God’s instructions are for our good.

Those teachings and instructions also help to restrain us.
I wouldn’t feel guilty about stealing if I didn’t know it was wrong to steal.
But I know stealing is wrong because God instructs me not to steal.
So if I take something that is not mine I end up with a guilty conscience.
A guilty conscience doesn’t feel good… so the knowledge that stealing is wrong restrains me.
So which of the three objects is the law most like at this point…?  It’s like the brake.

 

We so often want to do what is wrong.
But as God’s people we have been taught by God what is right and what is wrong.
We have learnt what is not good and what is best for us.
So when we now decide that we are going to do it anyway then the law acts as a brake.
It slows us down… and hopefully it will pull us up.

It’s great to have good brakes on the bike… and on the car.
That so often gets us out of trouble.
And in the same way it’s good to have our conscience finely tuned by God’s teachings.
That will do a great deal to keep us out of trouble.

 

I do want to make one qualification here.
Brakes don’t make us go… so don’t think that the law can save us or rescue us.
Only Jesus can do that.
The law itself cannot make us do what is good – only the Spirit of Jesus can.
But the law does put the brakes on the desires of our old nature.

 

3. Finally, the third way in which God’s instructions are for our profit:

God’s Law gives us directions as to what pleases our God.

God shows us in the moral law the kind of behaviour of which He approves.
I wouldn’t know that it pleases my God to honour His name and His day if He hadn’t told me.
But because He has told me I know how to act when it comes to His name and His day.

I wouldn’t know that it is best for me not to lie if God hadn’t told me.
But because I know that this is what is best for me I know how important it is to tell the truth.
So, obviously… the object that the law is most like at this point is… what?
The Street Directory… it shows me the right way to go.

 

Today people often ignore the ‘street directory’ of God’s teachings and get into trouble.
Some young folk don’t have much respect for their parents.
So they don’t respect their teachers much either… and later not the police either.
The result is that they learn in a painful way that God’s directions are best for us.
Some people learn the hard way that committing adultery is not what’s best for them.
They think that having an affair is something that everyone will get over.
But later they sadly discover that God’s directions were given for our wellbeing.

 

We as Christians follow the directions God has mapped out for us in His Word.
We don’t do that to earn brownie points with God.
Jesus has earned for us all the brownie points we’ll ever need.
We simply do it in thankfulness for what Jesus has done for us.
And we do it because we’ve been enabled to do it through the Spirit of Jesus in us.

 

So the big question is: what do the street directory, the mirror and the brake all have in common?
They are all for our good.  They all serve us well.
They all remind us that God has given us His law… His instructions for our wellbeing.
It’s the mirror of the law in which we see our sin and our need for Jesus.
It’s the brake of the law that restrains the sinful desires of our old nature.
And the law is our Street Directory showing us the way to please our Lord.

Amen