Connection in Covenant with God | Sunday, October 11, 2020

I won't forget the wonder of how You brought deliverance, the exodus of my heart. You found me, You freed me, and held back the waters for my release. Oh yeah, You're the God who fights for me, Lord.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You are the one who fights for me. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Now I will not forget. You took me by forever. Hallelujah! You're the God who fights for me, Lord of Harry, victory! Hallelujah! You will lead me through the deep.

Hallelujah! Good morning, Cross Connection Church, and welcome to church online.

We are so glad that you would join with us this morning to worship and to study through the Scriptures together. In just a few seconds, we're going to go over to Pastor Anthony and our worship team to lead us in a time of musical worship. But before we do, would you please consider sending out a text message or a message on social media to invite some of your friends and family members to join with us for worship today? Just send them that link: live.cccchurch.com.

As we now go to Pastor Anthony and our worship team, let us pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank You for this day. God, we thank You, Lord, that You are an awesome God. You are faithful and true, and Lord, You fight for us; You fight our battles. We are just so blessed to be able to sing, to praise You, to read Your Word, and to hear from You. We ask that You would speak to us and give us ears to hear what the Spirit has to say to us this morning. God, we bless You and praise You in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.

Let's worship.

The dog tried to hide You, steal Your weight. Death tried to keep You outside of the grave. The enemy fought, but he lost. You cannot be stopped. When we cried for freedom, You tore down the walls. The weight of our burdens, You carried it all.

And our failures hang dead on the cross. Oh, you cannot be stopped. Jesus has triumphed over the grave. Sing hallelujah! Who can stand against our God?

We stand on Your victory; we shout out Your praise. Miracle Maker, Your might is safe. Nothing can stand against our God. There is nothing that can stop our God. There is nothing that can stop our God. There is nothing that can stop our God.

There is nothing. There is nothing. There is nothing that can stop our God. There is nothing that can stop our God. There is nothing that can stop our God. We believe there is nothing that can stop our God.

There is Jesus; He has triumphed over the grave. Sing hallelujah! The battle is won; nothing can stand against our God. Jesus is nothing; nothing can stand against our God.

Thank you, Jesus. Hey, Cross Connection Church! It is great to be with you this morning. I would like to welcome you and let you know a couple of things that are coming up. First of all, we are a church that loves prayer. If you have a prayer need that you would like to make us aware of, we have a prayer team that prays for those needs throughout the week. If you would like to be on the prayer team, the information will be below for that as well. We are definitely a church that is all about prayer.

Also, big news: today is the day to pick up your boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Those will be available here at the church from 2 to 4 PM, so swing by today and get a box for Operation Christmas Child. Fill it up, then bring it back on the appropriate date, and we will get those out to bless children across the country.

Hey, Cross Connection Church! One more really exciting announcement: we are going to be meeting live and in person on Sunday nights for a devotional service. We will have worship, a message, and the opportunity to hang out together and see each other face to face. We will have tables and chairs set up here, and there will be a spot open if you want to bring your own lawn chairs to make it super comfy. We would love to see you there!

I would also like to encourage you to attend, but I would also love to invite you to participate. We will need people to help set up, tear down, and keep things clean while the event is going on. If you would like to participate in any of those activities, please email me at jason@ccsgo.org.

I'll get you all set up with that. If you're going to show up, just come at five o'clock on the 18th, not this Sunday but next Sunday. We will be able to fellowship together and worship our God.

Today's mission is Camp Julian Oaks, also known as Camp Joy. It is a ministry that reaches out to kids in the foster care system throughout Southern California. They have camps, provide counseling, and tell the children all about Jesus. This opportunity is near and dear to my heart, and it's a fantastic ministry. They are currently conducting their fall fundraiser, so please pray for them that they would be able to raise the funds needed to continue their ministry throughout this year.

Now is the time that we set aside in our service to give. There are a multitude of ways that you can give. You can give via text, drop it off directly at the church, or mail it in. You can also give online. All these options are available to you. Thank you so much for your faithfulness in this area.

We're getting ready to head back into worship, so God bless. Oh, hey, have you met my granddaughter, Clementine? God bless you all.

From beginning to the end, all my life is in Your hands. This whole world may hold me down, but it can never drown You out. I'm not merely bone; I was made for something.

Sovereign over every step, even in the fight through the dark, I hear Your voice rising up. I rejoice, for I was lost but now I am found, because even death can't hold You down.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me. From the beginning to the end, You deserve the glory. You are God; You are the greatest.

Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for the truth that You are alive in us, God, and that You are just so amazing. Lord, would You do amazing things in our lives this morning? In Jesus' name, Amen.

As you heard a few minutes ago in the announcements, we are inviting you to join us here at the church patio for a time of prayer, worship, and encouragement from the Scriptures this next Sunday, October 18th, at five o'clock in the evening. I hope that you will consider joining us if you are physically healthy and if you believe that you can do so.

As I shared in the email that I sent out to the church a week or so ago, this isn't an official reopening for our Sunday services. This is more of a supplemental opportunity for us to connect with God and to connect with one another in person, and I think that it's going to be a great time.

I also shared in my email last week that some of you will probably wear masks and others will not. I want to encourage you, if you join us, to respect the cautions and concerns of those who may wear masks, as well as the liberties of those who may not. This is precisely the way that we ought to respond to people who hold different views than us, especially as it relates to considerations of conscience. I really do believe that this is an issue of conscience.

In the New Testament book of Romans, we read, "Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the weaknesses of those without strength and not to please ourselves." We are obliged to esteem others better than ourselves. That's literally what it looks like to be Christ-like.

In addition to joining us next Sunday, you've also heard about our holiday mission outreach partnering with Samaritan's Purse.

Operation Christmas Child is an outreach program, and if you desire to join us, you can drive through the church parking lot this afternoon between two and four to pick up boxes. I'm sure you would agree that this has been an extraordinarily challenging year. A lot of the things that each of us had planned for and expected in 2020 have not come to pass anywhere near how we had expected.

It is in the midst of extraordinary circumstances that I am truly grateful for the promise of Scripture that God is able to work all things together for the good in the lives of His people. If we trust in God as He is revealed in the Scriptures, then we trust in Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. My plans for 2020 did not include church exclusively online, distanced learning for my kids, weddings with masks, birthday drive-through parades, or any of the oddities of this year. But God works all things according to the counsel of His will, and He is able to work the same things together for His ultimate good. That is truly good news.

In spite of all the craziness of this year, I am expecting God to do great things in and through us, His church. He has great things that He is doing, and we are prayerfully moving forward to reach more people both online and in person. I want to thank you this morning for your patience with us as we continue to navigate the chaos of this year. God is still on the throne, and we need to hold that in our minds and in our hearts continuously.

I love the passage in Isaiah chapter 6, where after the death of King Uzziah, Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, seated upon a throne. Although the throne in Israel was vacant, the throne in heaven was not, and God is still on the throne in 2020.

Now, if you do have your Bible this morning, I would invite you to open again to Deuteronomy chapter 5 as we consider together the statutes and judgments of God. We began last time to consider the actual law of God, what's called the Ten Commandments, although I'll admit we didn't get very far. I know that's no surprise to those of you who have listened to me preach for a while; you know that sometimes I can take a little while to get through a passage of Scripture.

Today, we're going to begin to peel back the layers of the law a bit and see how, in what ways, they might apply to us some 3,400 years after they were originally given. It has been observed many times by commentators and preachers that the statutes and judgments of God, these Ten Commandments, are divided into what are sometimes called the two tables of the law or the two tablets of God's law.

What is meant by this is that the law deals both with man's vertical relationship to God and his horizontal relationships with other people. As we talk about often here at Cross Connection Church, God created us to live life in connection with Him and then with one another in a harmonious way in this world. He created us for connection. Sadly, our rejection of God's law, which is called sin, has destroyed that harmonious connection.

The law gives us a starting point for how God intends to deal with the disconnect. The law does not deal with the disconnect entirely; it's just the starting point. But recognize that the law deals with connection with God, that vertical relationship, and connection with one another, the horizontal relationship.

The law is divided into two sections: laws dealing with our relationship with God, that vertical relationship, and the first four of the Ten Commandments, which we will look at over the next couple of weeks. Then there are those laws dealing with our relationship with other people, the last six of the Ten Commandments. Vertically, we have the Godward laws, and horizontally, we have the manward laws. This is what we will be looking at in this section of Scripture.

Now, it is also worth noting, as I did in my message last time, that the basis for obedience to the law, both vertically toward God and horizontally toward one another, is relationship. God says, "I am the Lord your God." These laws are for those who desire to connect with God and with one another. If you reject God, you reject His law. If you reject His law, then you reject Him. But understand that in rejecting Him and His law, you are also rejecting His blessing and all the privileges promised to those people who live in a covenant relationship.

With Him, one of those privileges is redemption. God saved the people of Israel; He brought them out of the house of bondage in Egypt. Now, on the basis of His redemption of them and their relationship to Him, He says, "You shall have no other gods before Me." God expects and commands exclusivity.

I realize I've probably already lost some of you. I understand that some people have a difficult time with claims of exclusivity, but I want to suggest to you that more than any sophistication on your part, any such issue that you may have with this might actually reveal more of an immaturity and a lack of understanding about relationships than any refinement or poise. Every married individual intuitively understands this.

I know that we're living in a time in which cultural views of marriage have shifted, but not for the better. We're at a point where we hear people talking about same-sex marriage, plural marriage, open marriages, and polyamory. There is no possible way that you can see this as a positive shift regarding marriage. Anyone that says that it is, in my opinion, is absurd.

Speaking to those that are married, when you got married, you entered into a covenant with vows before God and witnesses. You did so with the expectation of exclusivity. The covenant relationship that you entered into with your spouse entitled you and your spouse to certain benefits and blessings. I’m not only talking about intimacy, although that is part of it. The covenant relationship provides the benefits and blessings of provision, protection, mutual satisfaction, and companionship. The list of benefits is actually quite long, but all such benefits and blessings assume exclusivity. As soon as the covenantal exclusivity is broken, good luck enjoying the benefits and the blessings of marriage.

God expects and commands exclusivity, and this is based upon a covenantal relationship. It's not arbitrary. It is fascinating that God's command here does not explicitly deny the existence of other gods; that's a whole other discussion for another time. However, it does forbid any other rival. The covenant relationship you have with your wife does not deny the existence of other women, but your wife would be entirely right to...

I emphatically declare to you, you shall have no other woman before me. Amen, ladies. The inverse is true as well: you shall have no other man before your husband. Because of the covenant relationship, there ought to be no rivals; there can be only one. This is the way.

God's second command follows this logically in verse 8: "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands to those that love me and keep my commandments."

Please pay careful attention to the important words "hate" and "love" in these verses. These are relational categories. I keep hammering this point, but it is essential that we recognize this truth. As I shared all the way back in January when we began our study in Deuteronomy, this book is viewed by scholars as an official document ratifying a formal relationship between the Lord and Israel. These are the marital vows, if you will—the covenants, conditions, and restrictions of a relationship.

In this relationship, God demands proper adoration and representation, and so will your spouse. She expects that you will adore her. If someone asked you about your wife and you misrepresented her before them, saying, "Oh, she's a friend of mine," good luck with that. God will not suffer rivals; He will not turn a blind eye toward the banal hatred of indifference. He will visit the iniquity—He will punish it—of those who scorn and hate Him, although He promises mercy and blessing to those that love Him, as seen in their fidelity and their faithfulness to Him.

So mark this and note it well: God is rightly jealous for our devotion and affection. God is not jealous of us; He is jealous for us. He doesn't look at you; He doesn't look at me and pine over the things that you and I have. That would be totally ridiculous, but He does.

God deeply desires our devotion and affection in the same way that a faithful wife does for her husband and a faithful husband does for his wife. Why is it that some people really fight against this? They lack maturity; they are infantile in their affections. This is called childish selfishness, and they fail to recognize the relational aspect of the commands.

Listen, if you don't like God and His commands, understand that, because He is a good God and a loving God, He has given you autonomy. You can choose not to be in relationship with Him and to not observe His statutes and judgments, but you cannot also at the same time expect His blessing, certainly not eternally.

In Deuteronomy chapter 5, verse 6, we read, "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands to those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."

Now, clearly there are different ways the third commandment here in verse 11 is interpreted, but sometimes the differences of interpretation seem to reveal ignorance as to what this is really all about. I'm sure that more than a few times you've been corrected, or maybe you've corrected someone else, for using the name Jesus or the word God as a curse word or as an expression of disgust. I completely understand if the flippant use of God's name angers you. The casualness with which we speak of God could certainly be wrong, but I'm not convinced that the third commandment is necessarily legislating against that.

How then should we understand and apply the third commandment? A week ago, I did the first wedding that I've done all year, which is a bit strange for me. As I was doing the wedding, specifically as the happy couple turned and faced their guests at the end of the ceremony, I presented them for the first time.

As Mr. and Mrs. Pop, I thought about the fact that traditionally, in marriage, the wife takes the name of the husband. This tradition has come under fire in our day, like so many traditions. We are living in a cultural moment that is increasingly anti-patriarchal, and there is a view among some that it is oppressive and repressively misogynistic for a woman to take a man's name in marriage.

Now, obviously, I don't agree with that, but that's the view that we see in our culture growing more and more today. I personally find it to be a beautiful and honorable tradition that acknowledges the biblical principle that in marriage, the two become one flesh. In doing so, the wife bears the name or takes the name of her husband.

At issue here in the third command is the fact that Israel, in covenanting with God in relationship, is taking His name as the people of God, the people of Yahweh. He will be their God, and they will be His people. Therefore, the third command teaches us that we must take God's name with the utmost solemnity.

Solemnity isn't a word that you hear very often in the 21st century, especially not here in America, but it is the right word in this situation. The command expresses the truth that you should not enter into a covenant relationship with the Almighty without first reverently considering the implications of doing so.

In New Testament lingo, we would say you need to count the cost. Jesus says it like this in the Gospel of Luke: "And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it? Lest after he has laid the foundation, he is not able to finish, and all see it and begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple."

There are great benefits and blessings.

To be a people in covenant with the one true and living God brings benefits and blessings both in this life and in the life to come. However, one who would enter into such a covenant and relationship must recognize what the Scriptures teach in these opening commandments that we read here in Deuteronomy chapter 5.

We must understand that God expects and commands exclusivity: "You shall have no other gods before me." He demands proper adoration and representation and is rightly jealous for our devotion and affection. "You shall not make for yourself any carved image and bow down to them." Therefore, we must take His name with the utmost solemnity: "You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain."

We may think that the commandments given here in Deuteronomy, 3,400 years ago to Israel as they prepared to come into the Promised Land, are not applicable to us today. However, they are absolutely applicable, and we need to take note of what it is that God teaches us through them as we come to the Scriptures.

Father, I pray that as we think about these things today and as we hopefully meditate upon this throughout the week, You would be speaking to our hearts about the reality of what these things teach us. Lord, we should see that taking Your name as Your people—Jesus, we are called after Your name, the people of Christ, the people who follow after the way. You are the way, the truth, and the life.

I pray, God, that we would represent You well and that we would recognize what it means to take Your name. Lord, may You alone have the exclusive throne in our lives, the leadership over us as our Lord. God, do a work in transforming us by the renewing of our minds as we think about these things this week. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Moving in this place, working in this place, keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are. You are Way Maker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is keeper.

Right in the darkness, my God, that is who You are. Even when I don't see You working, You are still working. Miracle God, that is who You are.

Promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who You are.

Hey, church! Don't forget to mark on your calendars this afternoon, between 2 and 4 p.m., in the church parking lot. We will be handing out boxes for you for the Samaritan's Purse outreach with Operation Christmas Child. I hope to see you there as you pass through.

Also, mark down on your calendar next Sunday, the 18th of October, at 5:00 p.m. We will be gathering together for a time of worship and prayer, and some time in the Scriptures together as we connect with God and one another here at the church in person. We hope to see you there.

Father, we do bless You this morning. We praise You for the great things that You are doing in Your church, and we ask that You would pour out a blessing upon Your church. Lord, that You would cause us to be like a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden, a bright light shining in a dark place, especially during this period of time we pray.

Now may the Lord bless and keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

You take the gazelle; I'll take the pony.