SUCCESSFUL LIVING, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Exodus 20;1-17
The nation of Israel were given rules to live by before they got to
the Promised Land. It is estimated that there were 2 million
people camped in the desert ready to hear God’s Word.
Ex 19:14-15
V:14 After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. 15 Then he said to the people, "Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations."
Before we get to Church, we ought to be prepared to be in Church.
Lets not go to Church to be excited by the service. Lets go to
Church excited. We should take the excitement in the Church to be
Excited to hear God’s Word.
If our minds are filled with sins of the world, we will miss the message.
Before you start out to Church, purge yourself of worldly desires
anticipating a word from God,
The first four commandments are a vertical. They are our relationship
With God. The last six commandments are horizontal, They are our
relationship with each other. God first, man second.
Ex 20:1-17
The First Commandment
20 And God spoke all these words:
2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3. "You shall have no other gods before me.
A. God commands that HE be first in your life
1. God reminds us in 19:4, that we are where we are because of Him.
Ex 19:4
'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on
eagles' wings and brought you to myself.
2. It is easy to get big headed and think we are the reason for our success.
3. We need to understand that we cannot reason that we are responsible
for our success, if God didn’t regulate out minds.
B. We have a tendency to put God on the shelf, while we imaging
That it was the, man, the job, our education, hard work that put
us where we are,
COMMANDMENT TWO
V:4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand [ gene
rations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
1. God elaborates on His command that He be the
only God in our lives.
2. He proclaims that He is a jealous God, that will not allow
us to honor any man made god with out punishment,
2. We will make up some gods, with us being the number one god.
3. Without realizing it, we will worship ourselves, our possessions
or someone else. Oh yea, there is Sunday and God comes off the
shelf.
C. There is a consequence for not believing in God.
1. Those who hate God, will curse their families through
their fourth generation.
2. We pass our hatred of something to our children, who pass
it on.
D. The love of God is passed on to thousands of generations.
1. Our love for God is passed on to our children and grand
children who are blessed .
2. When we think about what we want out this life,
we need to think about the message we want to leave for
future generations.
3. God’s mercy for believers is endless.
COMMANDMENT THREE
V:7 "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
A. We need to be careful in our casual conversation that we
Don’t call out the name of God when it has nothing to do with
Prayer or praise and worship.
B. Matthew Henry described five categories of actions that constitute
taking God's name in vain:
1) hypocrisy – making a profession of God's name, but not living up to
that profession;
2) covenant breaking – if one makes promises to God yet does not carry
out the promised actions;
3) rash swearing;
4) false swearing;
5) using the name of God lightly and carelessly, for charms or spells, jest
or sport. He pointed out that though a person may hold himself
guiltless in one of these matters, the commandment specifically states
that God will not.
COMMANMENT FOUR
V:8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
A. Prior to Christ resurrection, the Jewish Holy Day was and
still is Saturday.
1. Christ was raised on Sunday, so the Christian Holy Day became
Sunday.
2. When I was growing up in the 60’s, stores and shopping centers
were closed on Sundays.
3. Today even though we go to Church on Sunday, there is no
recognized holy day.
B. God set a side a day for us to rest and reflect on Him.
1. We make a big production about going to Church on Sunday.
but are we in violation of God’s command when we
go shopping and cause others to work on Sunday?
2. Jesus said in I did not come to do away with the law but
fulfill all the requirement of the law.
This He did with His death on the cross
3. We are not under the law. We are under grace.
4. I am told that there are 613 commandments given under
the law.
5. Jesus also said no man can keep the Law.
The law does not save, it only condemns.
6. Why the law?
So we will know the righteousness of God and our sinfulness.
7. Jesus also said that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for
the Sabbath.
8. God gave us under grace, an example of how to rest from
our labor on the seventh day.
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
A. Just we are to honor God the creator, We are to honor our
Parents. We are to be grateful for the parents God gave us.
1. This promise, comes with a promise; long life.
2. There are families that are torn apart because of some
differences,
3. The honor we give our parents is unconditional.
4, There are no strings attached to honor.
B. Notice the long life promised is conditional on
The honor we give to our parents.
COMMANMENT SIX
V:13 "You shall not murder.
A. This is a confusing command, because it appears to go against
God’s action of annihilating whole families of none believers
To establish Israel place in the promise land.
1. War was necessary to eradicate the land holders from the land
for twelve tribes to take position of the land promise
to Abraham 430 years earlier.
2. The Bible Expository Commentary explains it this way
Honoring human life (v. 13). Life is a gift from God, and only He has the authority to take life. Because we're made in God's image, murder is an attack against God (Gen 1:26-27; 9:6). Protecting life is the responsibility of every member of society, not just the public officials (Rom 13). The issue here is premeditated murder, which Jesus said could have its beginning in anger (Matt 5:21-26). The Jews were allowed to defend themselves (Ex 22:2), and the Law made concessions for accidental death; but murder was a capital offense
COMMANMENT SEVEN
V:14 "You shall not commit adultery.
A. Marriage is God’s first human institution.
1. He started the first couple. Adam and Eve with
a covenant relationship of unity,
Gen 2:24
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
2. The marriage was to be permanent
Matt 19:6
So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined
together, let man not separate."
3. Adultery begins in the heart with a lustful look at another individual
outside of the marriage. Matthew 5:27-30
B. Marriage is the basic unit of the nation.
1. When families fall apart, the nation crumbles.
2, Jesus established His Church on basis of family.
He is the bridegroom and all believers are His bride.
.
COMMANDMENT EIGHT
V:15 "You shall not steal.
A. We are commanded to respect the personal
Property of others.
1. What’s mind is mind and what yours is yours
2. We should work for what we want.
3. It is a lazy person who takes what is not his/hers.
B. It is our job to protect the rights of others.
Eph 4:28
He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing
something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to
share with those in need.
COMMANDMENT NUMBER NINE
V:16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
A. The foundation of Christian living is the Word
John 8:32
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
1. A person who in has the habit of lying is enslaved by sin.
John 8:34
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35
Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it
forever.
COMMANDMENT TEN
V;17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
A. To covet begins in the heart.
1. It is the desire to have what someone else has.
2. To covet puts one at war with his neighbor.
3. To covet destroys the harmony of the mind.
4. To covet you have to degrade your neighbor.
5. To covet is to nurture spiritual corruption.
B. To avoid coveting, we must set our affections on
Things above, and not on the things of the earth.
Rev. M. Mitchell
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