THIS PASSAGE IS KNOWN AS THE TEN COMMANDMENTS:
LET'S GO THROUGH IT VERSE BY VERSE:
FIRST, WHO IS DOING THE TALKING?
IS THIS "THUS THINKETH MOSES"
EXODUS 20:
1 AND God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of
the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
THIS THEN IS A MESSAGE FROM GOD.
IN GOD'S WORD, WE LEARN HIS WILL;
HIS WILL COMES FROM HIS NATURE.
SO, FROM HIS WORD,
WE LEARN WHAT GOD IS LIKE;
WHAT HE LIKES
& WHAT HE DOESN'T LIKE.When you listen to someone talk,
You learn what they like;
What they don't like.
Well, In EXODUS 20:1, God is doing the talking
"AND God spake all these words,"
We can learn
What He Likes & What He Doesn't Like.
GOD ADDRESSES SPECIFIC ISSUES
IN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
IN STUDYING NEGOTIATION,
WE LEARN THAT BEHIND EVERY ISSUE
THERE IS A DRIVING INTEREST
WHAT IS GOD'S INTEREST
BEHIND EACH COMMANDMENT?
What is acceptable to Him?
What is unacceptable to Him?
LET'S LOOK AT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
from that perspective in this message.
We know that we are not under law,
but under grace,
But from the ten commandments,
we can learn what God likes,
What He doesn't like.If we want to please Him,
we will do what He likes.
We will avoid that
which is unacceptable to Him.
Ex. 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Mt.6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of
God, and his
righteousness; and all these things
shall be
added unto you.
IN ALL MATTERS, HE IS TO BE PUT FIRST,
The tithe is the first tenth
The Lord's day is the first day of the week.
EXODUS 20:
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or
any likeness of any
thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the
earth beneath, or that is in
the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve
them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth generation of
them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love
me, and keep my commandments.Man is incapable of accurately & adequately
representing God.Romans 1:23
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into
an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds,
and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.Any form of pantheism is false.
GOD SAYS THAT SUCH IS UNACCEPTABLE TO HIM.
THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE TO HIM.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in
vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that
taketh his name in vain.We must be careful in how we use His name.
His name is holy.
NOTHING GETS TO ME AS MUCH AS TO HEAR
SOMEONE MISUSE THE NAME OF JESUSActs 4:12
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there
is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved.
This, too, is unacceptable to Him.
EXODUS 20:
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy
God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy
son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant,
nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger
that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath
day, and hallowed it.One of the values of going regularly to worship
is the value of time set aside (consecrated)
to study, meditation, & the worship of God.
12 Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may
be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee.The precept is focused on parents.
The principle is a larger principle.God finds ingratitude irritating (so do I).
Ec.9:14 There was a little city, and few men within
it; and there came a great king against it, and
besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he
by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man
remembered that same poor man.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
This is the ultimate
devaluation.
You should no
longer exist on this earth(die).
GREAT SIN OF ABORTION.
THE PRINCIPLE REVEALED
IN THIS COMMANDMENT
IS LARGER THAN
JUST THE ACT OF MURDER
1 John.3:15
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye
know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in
him.Hateth here is
Strongs Greek 3404 -
mis-eh'-o; from a prim. miso s, (hatred); to detest
(espec. to persecute); by extens. to love less:
- hate (-ful)If you are a hateful person /
full of hate / Are you saved?
EXODUS 20:
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Eph.5:25
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved
the church, and gave himself for it;TITUS 2:
4 That they (the aged women from verse 3) may teach
the young women to be sober, to love their husbands,
to love their children,MARRIAGE IS A COVENANT
God is the witness to the covenant.Mal.2:14
Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been
witness between thee and the wife of thy youth,
against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is
she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
EXODUS 20:
15 Thou shalt not steal.
Sort of obvious here.
But, YOU CAN STEAL without
taking
material goods.
A position God has not given you.
You can steal someone's reputation
Inuendo, Raised eyebrow.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbour.God Himself will avenge this.
Romans 12:19
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather
give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance
is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.He will pay back in the same coin.
Galations 6:7
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap.
THE IDEA AGAIN IS
THAT IT IS UNACCEPTABLE TO GOD FOR US
TO MISTREAT OTHERS.
TO WANT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THEM
WHAT THEY HAVE
SO THAT WE CAN HAVE IT FOR OURSELVES.
THEY ALL HAVE TO DO WITH EITHER
HOW WE TREAT GOD
OR HOW WE TREAT OUR FELLOW MAN
MATTHEW 22:
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a
question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets.
IS IT TRULY POSSIBLE TO HAVE A RIGHT RELATIONSHIP
WITH YOUR FELLOW MAN
if you do not have a right relationship
with God?
It is only as you have the new nature
within you that you are able
to love others as you should.
Mt.5:17
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
WE CAN NEVER FULFIL THE DEMANDS OF THE LAW.
WE COULD NEVER BE SAVED BY WORKS; ONLY BY GRACE.EVEN AFTER SALVATION, WE CAN ONLY PLEASE GOD
AS CHRIST HIMSELF LIVES IN US AND THROUGH US.ONLY AS JESUS LIVES IN US
CAN WE LIVE A LIFE PLEASING TO GOD
(Even after we understand
what is pleasing & displeasing
to God, we are powerless in
ourselves apart from Christ.)
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The preceeding is a sermon written by Ben Shepherd
Copyright 1999 Ben Shepherd
Permission is freely granted to those who minister
to use in public proclamation without stating
attribution.
All other rights reserved.
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