The 10 Commandments & the Cross

it's nice being introduced as a hick.

So I've got a question as I get up here.

Oh, grab your swords.

If you don't have one, there's one in the head of you

because we'll be looking at scripture, focusing on a passage.

So I've got a question as I'm up here.

How relevant are the Old Testament laws to us today?

Some are relevant, some maybe not.

I'd like to look at one.

Leviticus 19.27.

Do not cut the hair on the sides of your head

or clip off the edges of your beard.

Wonderful.

Thankfully, no men here need lamb chop sideburns anymore.

But that was an Old Testament law.

And you can see some of the Jews today still do that.

Another one, Leviticus 4.27-31.

If any member of the community sins unintentionally

and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands,

when they realize their guilt and their sins they have committed

become known, they must bring as their offering

for the sin they committed a female goat without defect.

They are to lay their hands on the head of the sin offering

and slaughter it at the place of the burnt offering.

Then the priest is to take some of the blood with his fingers,

put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering,

and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

They shall remove all the fat,

just as the fat is removed from the fellowship offering,

and the priest shall burn it on the altar

as an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

In this way, the priests will make atonement for them

and they will be forgiven.

This is a sin offering.

As Christian believers, we no longer need to offer female goats

without defect.

When the Israelites followed the laws of God,

the temple was literally a blood-stained slaughterhouse.

Christ's death fulfilled the sacrifice for a sin offering.

And many of the Old Testament laws are not in effect for us today,

yet there are some laws that apply every bit as much today

as they did over 3,000 years ago.

So grab your sword, grab your Bible.

Exodus, second book in the Bible, Exodus 20.

It should be very familiar to people.

Exodus chapter 20, and I'll read 1 to 17.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

This is the Ten Commandments.

Is it relevant today?

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt,

out of the land of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourselves an image

in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath

or in the waters below.

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 their parents

to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me

and keep my commandments.

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God,

for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God.

On it you shall not do any work,

neither you nor your sons or daughters,

nor your male or female servants,

nor your animals or any foreigner residing in your towns.

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.

Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Honor your father and your mother,

so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor's house.

You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male or female servant,

his ox or donkey,

or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

That's the Ten Commandments.

When the Lord talked to Moses from the burning bush,

he introduced himself as,

I am the God of your father,

the God of Abraham,

the God of Isaac,

and the God of Jacob.

He now introduces himself in verse 2 as,

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt,

out of the land of slavery.

Every Israelite that crossed the Red Sea knows this God.

Every one of them would have seen the plagues that crushed Egypt.

Every one of them would have remembered the loss of the firstborn of every house in Egypt

that did not wipe blood on the door frame,

so that the angel would pass over

and not kill one of their own children.

Everyone remembered crossing the Red Sea

while the Egyptian army was in pursuit,

and that the sea flooded back in destroying that threat.

The first commandment,

verse 3,

The nation Israel had spent 430 years

in Egypt,

living with and worshipping the false gods there.

The Egyptian plagues

were God's way of showing his people

how worthless that was.

Because the Israelites did not have faith in God

to lead them back to Israel.

None of the generation crossed into the promised land

except Caleb and Joshua.

40 years.

And that whole generation,

even Moses,

could not make it into the promised land

except Caleb and Joshua.

As God's chosen people,

Israel rarely followed this command,

and most of the Old Testament

tells the story of what happened to them

or is prophesied of what would happen.

The relevant question for us today is,

do we even believe in a God?

For many people,

the idea of a great God

that created the universe out of nothing

is nonsense.

Not just so,

you know,

so many people just,

oh, it's evolution,

it's,

we can answer the questions

with these other answers,

but it really,

it's shallow.

It doesn't really answer

how things happened.

Philippians 3, 18 and 19.

For as I have often told you before

and now tell you again,

even with tears,

many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Their destruction,

or their destiny,

is destruction.

Their God is their stomach,

and their glory is in their shame.

Their mind is set on earthly things.

So that's what so much of the world is.

Their God is their stomach.

Whatever feels good,

I need this satisfied right now.

That is what their God is.

The book of Ecclesiastes

tells of the futility

of chasing after stuff

and not making God

the most important focus

of our lives.

Next commandment.

You shall not make for yourself

an image in the form

of anything in heaven above

or on the earth beneath

or in the waters below.

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 their parents

to the third and fourth generation

of those who hate me,

but showing love

to a thousand generations

of those who love me

and keep my commandments.

We look at idols

as a foolish idea.

Isaiah in chapter 44

summed it up well,

pointing out the nonsense it is.

Isaiah 44.

If a man's fuel,

it is a man's fuel for burning.

Some of it he takes

and warms himself.

He kindles a fire

and bakes bread,

but he also fashions a God

and worships us.

So that's what they were doing.

They were making wooden idols

in their houses,

but it was just out of the same wood

that they burnt for fires.

To us this is foolish,

but this was a real

and horrible problem in Israel.

Having a tangible object

you could see and feel

made it real.

They would at times

mix temple worship

and idol worship.

They would do the sacrifices to God,

but then they would also do

their own worship to the Baals

and to the other gods.

So it was a,

yeah,

trying to mix two things,

and this was really,

really disturbing to God.

In our modern Western world,

we don't make wooden idols,

but we do place high value

in many things.

Houses,

work,

sports,

money.

These are all objects

that are necessary

or entertaining,

but for many,

they are more important than God.

they are our idols.

God warns us about

coming deception

in the last days,

being focused on stuff

or pleasure

in a way

where you're being deceived

and lulled

into a complacency

and have no fear of God.

As we're told over and over

to fear God

because of what He can do to you,

but

He is a God in heaven

that is so powerful.

We don't have

a full appreciation

of who God is.

Next commandment.

You shall not misuse

the name of the Lord your God,

for the Lord will not hold

anyone guiltless

who misuses His name.

That one's easy.

I don't go around

swearing by God's name,

by using God's name.

This one is impossible

to follow, though,

since I claim to be a Christian

and my actions

don't always follow

this declaration.

Commandments 6-10

point out

what I'm like too often.

I may not murder,

but I'm tempted

to pass on information

about someone else

that is not edifying.

It's called a gossip.

We live in a world

that increasingly

does not believe in God

or that Christ

was an actual person.

It is easy to do

all things

like everyone else.

Paul,

in Romans 7,

nailed it.

Romans 7

is just,

connects to

the Old Testament

to the Ten Commandments

so well.

Romans 7-21.

So I find this law

at work.

Although I want to do good,

evil is right there with me.

For in my inner being

I delight in God's law.

But I see another law

at work in me,

waging war against

the law of my mind

and making me

a prisoner of the law

of sin

at work within me.

What a wretched man I am!

Who will rescue me

from this body

that is subject to death?

Thanks be to God

who delivers me

through Jesus Christ

our Lord.

So then,

I myself

in my mind

am a slave

to God's law

but in my sinful nature

a slave

to the law

of sin.

It's just,

we want

to do the right thing

but we're human.

Now I just want to

take a step back

and look at these

first three commandments

and they,

and see how they apply

to our triune God.

Number one,

first commandment,

or the first commandment,

God the Father

is supreme.

There are no other gods

at all.

He is seen

in scripture

as a king

sitting on his throne.

Now remember

that Satan's goal

has always been

to be seen

as equal

to God.

Not above God

but equal.

You know,

it's like comparing

a matchbox

you know,

a little car

to a 1932

Rolls Royce

silver shadow.

You know,

like,

they're not even comparable.

But Satan,

his goal

in all of eternity

is to be elevated

to that same level

as God.

But God is supreme

so we can picture him

have no other gods

before me.

Second commandment,

we're not to make

idols.

Jesus,

the Son,

came to earth

and lived

as a physical man.

All throughout history,

mankind

has imposed

their ideas

onto idols.

Babylonian,

Greek,

Roman cultures

all depicted

their gods

in human form.

Depicting Jesus

this way

would lead us

to imposing

our idea

of who God is

by what we think

he would look like.

By imposing

our ideas

on Christ,

we could then

manipulate him.

Idolatry

was Israel's

greatest problem

and we

would be

no different.

So what you

can see

in your mind

and you try

and say

make this work

and I can

make an idol

do for you

what I want

it to do,

that's why God

doesn't want us

to have

a preconceived

idea.

Pictures of Christ

are always wrong.

The third,

misusing

the name

of the Lord,

misusing

the name

of God.

Think about

your own name.

It's not

a physical

part of you

but it is

your identity.

Proverbs

talks about

having a good

name.

This is not

in the spelling

but in how

you are perceived

in the community.

Likewise,

the Holy Spirit

is not the

physical

representation

of God

but the

invisible

spirit

that abides

in us.

being known

by the name

Christian

has great

implications

since we are

to be

ambassadors

of Christ.

So we can

see that

yeah,

you know,

we are,

we don't

see the

Holy Spirit

but it's just

like our name.

It's part of us

but it isn't.

Okay,

let's carry on

with the

Ten Commandments.

Remember the

Sabbath day

by keeping it

holy.

Six days

you shall

labor and

do all

your work

but the

seventh day

is a

Sabbath

to the

Lord your

God.

On it

you shall

do no

work,

neither you

nor your

son or

daughter,

nor your

male or

female servant,

nor your

animals,

nor any

foreigner

residing in

your town.

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 he

made it

holy.

As believers

in Christ,

we do not

follow the

Sabbath the

same as the

Old Testament

Jews did.

We worship

God on the

day he rose

from the

grave,

which is

Sunday.

The Sabbath

was always

Saturday,

we worship

on a

Sunday.

The reason

to worship

God has

not changed.

He is

the creator

and redeemer.

We truly

benefit from

a day of

rest,

but mostly

we benefit

from not

focusing on

our idols

and then

worshiping

God instead.

So

Sabbath,

so the

Sunday is,

there's no

one here

that says,

boy,

I wish I

would work

every day

of the week

continually,

but it

is,

God has

designed us

to have a

day of

rest,

change of

pace,

but a time

to focus

on him.

Next

verse,

honor your

father and

your mother

so that

you may

live long

in the

land the

Lord is

giving you.

This is

the only

commandment

with the

promise.

What does

honor mean

and is it

relevant today?

Honor is a

lot more than

saying a few

nice things

and a

semi-annual

visit.

It means

taking time

for a

relationship.

It means

investing

time.

It means

sacrifice.

Just a

story I

have.

January

2nd,

1995.

I drove

to Medicine

Hat where

my parents

lived and

took them

to the

doctor for

a follow-up

appointment

for dad.

He had

been having

headaches and

a general

sickness

feeling.

We expected

the diagnosis

of mini-strokes

since he had

had quite a

few before

and, you

know,

this is just

probably what

it was.

But the

doctor floored

us with the

announcement

that, Henry,

you have

brain cancer.

After dad's

treatment in

Calgary, I

made almost

weekly trips to

the Hat to

help wherever I

could.

Dad was not a

believer and our

relationship was

not the greatest,

but I made the

choice to

honor dad with

all I could,

with all I

could give.

Dad passed

away almost

two years

later, and

then mom was

diagnosed with

an autoimmune

disease brought

on by exhaustion

because she

cared for dad

day and night.

Still more

trips south.

Mom, it was

much easier to

help, but

still time

consuming.

It is

interesting that

I could start

all the vehicles,

punch zombie

mode, even the

semi, and in

two hours we

would be in a

medicine hat.

We just, every

week we could

just go back

and same

fields, same

this, everything,

just driving

down every

week for three

years.

Honor,

interestingly, is

not a one-way

street.

Ephesians 6,

1 to 3, repeat

the fifth

commandment, then

in verse 4 it

says, fathers,

do not exasperate

your children.

Instead, bring

them up in the

training and

instruction of

the Lord.

To gain

honor, you

must be

honorable.

The last five

commandments focus

on interpersonal

relationships.

You shall not

murder.

You shall not

commit adultery.

You shall not

steal.

You shall not

give false

testimony against

your neighbor.

You shall not

covet your

neighbor's house.

You shall not

covet your

neighbor's wife

or his male

or female

servant, his

ox or donkey,

or anything that

belongs to your

neighbor.

You will notice

that the last

five commandments

have a descending

level of severity.

Just take a look

at that.

You may get very

mad at someone,

but to commit

murder is truly

rare.

Adultery happens

more frequently,

often as

clandestine as

possible, but

always with

consequences.

King David

would have

known this

commandment,

but still

committed adultery

with Bathsheba,

resulting in the

death of Uriah

and the loss

of his throne

to his son

Absalom.

David never

regained the

stature with his

people that he

previously had.

So there's

always consequences

to what we do.

If you commit

murder, you're

going to be

sent to jail

if you get

caught.

And that's

why we have

policemen in

our midst

here to help

us so that

criminals like

that get

caught.

Adultery,

if you know

found out,

you'd lose

your stature

in the

community.

People do

not respect

you.

Next

commandment,

you shall

not steal.

Straightforward,

but done all

too often,

in many ways.

We can all

think of things

or time.

We have

stolen from

others or

God.

People

brought

defective

sacrifices to

God as an

example in

the Old

Testament.

Surely a

blind or

crippled

lamb was

all right.

It is

easy to be

deceitful in

business dealings.

You know,

it's, oh,

we misrepresent

that or cheat

on weights or

anything.

Honoring God

is important in

how we deal

with others.

Next, you

shall not give

false testimony

against your

neighbor.

This is not

only a court

of law, but

also known

by the name

gossip.

It is easy

to try and

make ourselves

look better by

exaggerating or

twisting this

story to make

the other

person look

bad.

An example

right now is

the election

campaign in

the States.

Truly, have

you heard

either

candidate say

anything nice

or uplifting

about their

opponents.

No one is

ever as good

or as bad

as they are

painted in

the media.

Finally, you

shall not

covet your

neighbor's

house, you

shall not

covet your

neighbor's

wife, or

his male or

female servant,

his ox or

donkey, or

anything that

belongs to

your neighbor.

I find this

next to

misusing the

name of the

Lord.

Lord, this

is the

hardest

commandment

to follow.

This is

done in

your heart,

in secret,

with a

smile.

Jealousy

is very

poisonous.

Examples.

Dead has not

worked as hard

for his

house as I

have.

The

clampets are

always going

on exotic

vacation.

My exotic

trip is to the

garden section

at Walmart.

Math is

easy when

you're a

teacher's pet

like Ellie

May.

We all

face real

or perceived

that puts

us issues,

we all face

issues that

real or

perceived that

put us at a

disadvantage to

someone else.

The most

dangerous result

is when we

focus on what

others have

and not on

the fact that

as believers in

Christ, this

world is not

your home.

This lifetime

is the period

in which we

make an

eternal decision

about eternity.

After they

died,

sore-infested

beggar Lazarus

and the rich

man fell

out,

when the rich

man in

hell was in

torment,

begging for a

drop of water

to cool his

tongue.

After the last

week, we can

imagine that.

And Lazarus

was comforted

by Abraham.

So that's the

result of the

choices they

made.

Owning money,

possessions,

is neither good

nor bad.

What we do

with them is

the key.

More,

bigger,

faster,

newer.

These are all

reasons for

jealousy.

Contentment

is what God

wants us to

strive for.

This is not

easy.

It's harder

to see

somebody have

stuff when

we don't,

or it's not

fair because

they don't

have this.

You'll notice

in the last

five commandments,

descend in

severity.

You know,

stuff in your

mind, in your

heart is less

severe than

murder.

Jealousy is

not seen as a

crime to go to

jail for,

but murder

is.

We all

grade ourselves

on what we

have done,

so not

murdering your

sibling as a

youth is a

great accomplishment,

isn't it?

But also

notice, as the

severity descends,

the possibility

to commit these

sins increases.

Not many of

in this room

have ever

committed murder,

I hope.

but the idea

of coveting,

the idea

of gossiping,

that's, you

know, for a

lot of us,

that's a daily

activity.

I would not

kill to have

another half

section of

land, but if

it were mine,

not Jed's,

just think of

what I could do

with it.

when we

grade ourselves,

we can have

excuses for

each and

every breaking

of the Ten

Commandments.

Again, in

Romans, Romans

Romans 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7,

Paul states,

what shall we

say then?

Is law

sinful?

Certainly not.

Nevertheless,

I would not

have known

what sin

was had it

not been

for the law.

For I would

not have known

what coveting

was if the

law had not

said, you

shall not

covet.

But sin,

seizing the

opportunity

afforded by

the commandment,

produced in

me every

kind of

coveting.

for apart

from the

law, sin

was dead.

Once I was

alive apart

from the

law, but

when the

commandment

came, sin

sprang to

life and

I died.

I found

that the

very commandment

that was

intended to

bring life

actually brought

death.

For sin,

seizing the

opportunity

afforded by

the commandment,

deceived me

and through

the commandment

put me to

death.

And this

next, verse

15 in

Romans 7

is me,

is me.

I do not

understand what

I do.

For what I

want to do,

I do not

do.

But what I

hate, I

do.

That is

so much

me.

Yes, I

want to do

the right

thing, but I'm

tempted to do

the wrong

thing.

Wow.

How relevant

are the

Old Testament

laws.

If God

had not

laid them

out, we

would have

an excuse

to say

that judgment

is not

fair.

Most of

us are

much better

than we

are evil.

Maybe only

Hitler, Stalin

and mass

murderers and

the likes

should spend

eternity in

the judgment

for hell

for eternity.

But when

we look at

the Ten

Commandments

and other

applicable

laws from

the books

that Moses

wrote, we

see that we

have all

broken, all

of them, if

not physically,

then at least

mentally.

Isaiah 64

makes it

clear.

All of us

have become

like one who

is unclean.

All our

righteous acts

are like

filthy rags.

We all

shrivel up

like a leaf,

and the wind

our sins

sweep us

away.

Yeah, we

are all,

our actions

are like

filthy rags

to God.

Revelations

21.8

is this

dark list

of all

who will

be separated

from God

and spend

an eternity

in judgment

of God

in hell.

Verse 20,

chapter 21.8

But the

cowardly,

the unbelieving,

the vile,

the murderers,

the sexually

immoral,

those who

practice magic

arts,

the idolaters,

and all

liars,

they will be

consigned to

the fiery

lake of

burning sulfur.

This is

the second

death.

That list

is contained

and is

covered in

the Ten

Commandments

in some

form or

other.

This,

to us,

would be

totally

devastating

except for

one eternal

fact.

God

wants

no one

ever

to face

this

judgment.

He hates

sin

but loves

the ones

he created.

Romans

6.23

makes it

clear.

For the

wages of

sin is

death,

but the

gift of

God is

eternal life

in Christ

Jesus our

Lord.

Nothing

we can

do,

say,

pay,

is

anything

more than

a filthy

rag to

God.

He is

very clear

in the

rules that

we must

live by.

John

3.16

to 18

makes it

clear that

faith in

Jesus is

the one

true answer

to the

impossible

task of

following the

Ten

Commandments.

For God

so loved

the world

that he

gave his

one and

only son

that whoever

believes in

him shall

not perish

but have

eternal life.

For God

did not send

his son

into the

world to

condemn the

world,

but to

save the

world

through him.

Whoever

believes in

him is

not condemned,

but whoever

does not

believe

stands

condemned

already

because they

have not

believed in

the name

of God's

one and

only son.

No

excuse.

No

excuse.

Now is

the time

when we

see how

relevant

God

views the

Ten

Commandments.

Before us

is the

communion

table.

Partaking

of these

simple

sacraments,

the bread

representing

his body,

the blood

his life

reminds us

of what

Jesus did

for us

by dying

in our

place.

Believers

are no

longer held

guilty of

breaking the

laws of

God,

but this

is a

time to

examine and

measure our

styles by

the Ten

Commandments.

God knows

no one is

perfect,

but he wants

us to confess

to him our

wrongdoings

and make

amends

where we

can.

Christ's

substitutionary

death is

available to

everyone,

but applies

only to

those who

believe he

died in

our place

and verbally

acknowledge him

as the

holy God.

So as we

pass out the

sacraments,

then if

you don't

feel you

are a

believer at

this time,

just pass

them by.

It's not

good to

take them

if that's

really not

what you

believe.

So we'll

just take

before we

pass out

the sacraments,

we're just

going to take

a few minutes.

Examine

yourself.

We know

what the

Ten

Commandments

talks about.

We know

where we

grade on

that scale,

but now

is a time

to really

reflect.

And to

really

appreciate

Christ's

sacrifice.

That he

died for

us.

He took

our death.

So we'll

just, in a

few minutes,

we'll ask the

two men to

come up and

pass them

out.

But just

take a few

minutes to

think about

what this

means.

Thank you.

God

God,

God,

say,

God,

God,

him,

go here.