The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:1-17

I. Introduction 

A. The ten Commandments

EX 20:1 Then God spoke all these words, saying,

EX 20:2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

EX 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.

EX 20:4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

EX 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

EX 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

EX 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

EX 20:13 "You shall not murder.

EX 20:14 "You shall not commit adultery.

EX 20:15 "You shall not steal.

EX 20:16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

EX 20:17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

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B. Look at these. If we love God, we will keep the commandments: Jn. 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

1. Commandments 1-4 are about our relationship with God.

EX 20:2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

EX 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.

EX 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

C. 3 notes on the Sabbath:

a. We keep a day separate for 3 reasons:

1. To remind us that it was God who created everything

2. Because God commanded us to keep it

3. Because God knew we need a day of rest.

b. The Sabbath is still Saturday. It is still holy to God. Look at a calendar. Saturday is the 7th day of the week.

c. We are absolved from keeping the Sabbath as ritual because it is easy to keep it without the worship of God. It is our hearts God is after. As God told us through Paul: RO 14:5 One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. 7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.

If we love God, we will acknowledge Who He is, we will put Him first in our lives, we will not take His name lightly.

D. But the commandments did not stop there: Commandments 5-10 concern our horizontal relationships, our relationships with our parents and everyone else.

EX 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

EX 20:13 "You shall not murder.

EX 20:14 "You shall not commit adultery.

EX 20:15 "You shall not steal.

EX 20:16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Had God only wanted us to worship Him, if that were enough, He would have stopped after the 4th commandment.

MT 22:34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they gathered themselves together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And He said to him, "`YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, `YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' 40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

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II. This is not a new commandment: LEV 19:17 `You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. 18 `You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

A. Jesus expanded this to include everyone, not just our countrymen or fellow Christians, or our friends.

MT 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, `YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, and hate your enemy.' 44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you 45 in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gatherers do the same? 47 "And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

What does this “Love your neighbor” look like?

RO 13:6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. 8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

As God told us through James: JAS 2:14 What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18 But someone may well say, "You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works." 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Or, to make it easy, Jesus told us: MT 7: 12 "Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

B. God gives us ways to worship Him, ways to say, “Thank You”

1. Sing Praises and worship

2. Pray

3. Tithe

4. Serving others

a. How? You may ask?

1. (From Bits and Pieces, Apr. ‘2005)

A Turning Point

A week passed before Elizabeth fully realized that she was really by herself now. Her husband’s death left her with papers to sign, calls to make, accounts to remove his name from and others to close. And the tedious process of explaining her situation over and over only deepened her heartbreak and vulnerability.

When Elizabeth phoned one of her husband’s creditors, her voice cracked as she explained the reason for her call. Her words were met by a brief pause. Then the customer service agent said, “I can’t say I know exactly how you’re feeling, but I can say that I was in the same situation a few years ago. It was a rough period of my life, but it didn’t last. Things will be better for you, too. It’s hard to understand that right now, I know, but a brighter day is jut around the corner. You just hang in there.”

Elizabeth was touched. A complete stranger had just given her something she hadn’t felt in days—hope. She would never forget the compassion of this stranger. Nor would she ever underestimate the value of a sincere gesture offered in the right moment.

C. MT 10:42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."

D. 1CO 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

E. Be aware of others! Look around you. There are always others you can serve as a way of saying,”Thank You, Lord.”