The Beauty And Significance Of The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) - A Sermon by Elise Beatrice

TRANSCRIPT

The Beauty And Significance Of The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20)

A Sermon by Elise Beatrice - Saturday, 7 June 2025

We are reading Exodus 20, The Ten Commandments.

Holy Father God Almighty, these are Your words; these are Your Moral Law. They are a treasure, Lord. They are special; they are precious; they are sacred. And I would not dare to touch this unless it is You, Yourself, Your Son Jesus, Your Holy Spirit teaching me. So, please, Lord, as we go through this, let us only hear what You tell us, and only take what You give us, and only see what You show us, and only feel what You put in our hearts. Lord, Father God Almighty, these are Your decrees, Lord, Your Perfect decrees, Holy Words, Holy Commandments. Lord, thank You so much, God, for Your teachings; thank You for Your Holy Spirit to guide me through this. Holy Lord Jesus, thank You; thank You for Your grace. Please help me; help me to understand them, to speak them as You want me to speak, Lord. So, please, my God, Your will be done, in the name of Your Son, Jesus, Amen.

Wow! These are the words of the Lord Himself. These words are not what we hear down the streets; these are the Holy Commandments, and we should approach them with reverence to our God and welcome what He's going to give us, and pay attention, listen, and seek to understand and to do what they say. So, let's read.

And God spoke all these words:

Commandment no. One:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.

So this is our God here, introducing Himself to all people who want Him, to all the world. He is using His servant Moses, so that everyone must know who He is.

Yes, the Lord God introduces Himself as the One True God.

Since the Lord says that He Is the One True God, and besides Him, there is no other, that makes all the other gods false. This God who is speaking here never lies. He is the Truth. The Truth never speaks anything that is a lie. He declares Himself as the One True God. God is One, and it is He.

And He is the One True God.

Here in Isaiah 45:5-6, God Himself speaks,

Isaiah 45:5–6

"I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides Me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know Me, so that all may know, from where the sun rises to where it sets, that there is none but Me; I am the LORD, and there is no other."

So, when the Lord God says, "You shall have no other gods before Me," He is saying to us that He is the One True God, and there is no other real one apart from Him. And other gods around are humans calling themselves gods and demons hiding behind idols, graven images, and false religions to trick humans into worshipping them, to the extent that some humans have grown to believe them, thinking that they are gods.

2 Corinthians 4:4 says,

2 Corinthians 4:4

"Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God."

The Lord Jesus, in John 12:31, introduced satan as the ruler of this world, and His death on the Cross was the confirmation that satan will be cast out from the world and thrown into the fire of hell.

John 12:31

The Lord says, "Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out."

He also said to the Pharisees about satan in John 8:44,

John 8:44

"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies."

John 3:19 says,

John 3:19

"And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil."

This is what it means: the Lord Jesus, who is the Light, has come to save the world, but humans loved satan, who is darkness, instead of the Light who is Christ, because their deeds were evil. It happened in the past, and so it continues today.

So, since God is the One True God, He declares all the other gods as false.

So, these are the words of Christ Himself, speaking to His Father, in John 17:3, saying,

John 17:3

"This is eternal life, that they know You, the Only True God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent."

So, this is why Father God says, "You shall have no other gods but Me."

It does not mean that there are other gods, who are good and who are just, but we should only choose God. He is saying here there is no other God besides Him. "I'm the First and The Last, besides Me, there is no other." So He was the First, and He is the Last; besides Him, there is no other.

So when people are out there, those idolaters, worshipping themselves, the humans as gods, and also worshipping false gods, like graven images, and other idols, and satan, who many worship as a god, some people see money as their gods, those are all false gods, and satan and demons are behind them all.

But this is the truth here, spoken by God Himself, so that the whole world will listen and know who the One True God is. So, if someone is seeking the One True God, He is nowhere else but in the Holy Bible. So, it is very important: if anyone breaks this Commandment itself, it is already deadly, because you cannot turn from the One who created you without falling into the devil's snare. The Lord God declares Himself as the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and every single one, and every single thing.

So, the One True God created all things, not false gods.

God has no equal. There is no other god besides Him. So that is the first Commandment of the Lord Father God.

And now, Commandment number Two:

4 “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. 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 sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My Commandments."

Many people out there have misunderstood this Commandment. They use this Commandment to blaspheme the Name of God. "Oh God, punishing children for the sins of their parents, oh, God does this, God is a Jealous God." Some even go around murdering people and then say, "My God is a jealous God." This line has been used in a famous soap opera; they have used this verse deceptively; it has been quoted from the mouths of murderers just to dirty the name of the One True God. And they say, "My God is a jealous God," then they murder, because that's how they use this verse to portray Christianity in the wrong light. But this is what God means. He's saying here,

4 “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. "

First of all, you have not created anything. Many make gods out of wooden images, graven images of stone, and carved on walls; you did not create the stone; many made false gods out of wood, you did not create a tree. And many other things that people use as their gods, you did not create those objects; you are just using things that God created to make yourself a god. And that is already taking something that God created and defiling it to make false gods. And they're just wood, they're graven images, they're stones, and anything that is considered idolatry, and you worship it. And by worshipping it, who is making that become alive?

Every graven image, every false god and false religions are inventions of satan to keep people away from the One True God.

So, how can you think, as a human, that by carving a wood and placing it there as a god, it becomes alive? And by carving a stone and speaking to the stone, and the stone can bless you? Or any other thing you consider your god, or a snake you may consider your god? The One true God created the snake and all other things on this earth. And you believe that they can bless you and give you wealth. But who is behind it? What makes those things alive are demons. False gods are inventions of satan; he hides behind them and tricks people to worship him, and they are spending all their time worshipping demons, thinking that they're worshipping God.

That's why God says,

"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. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them..." because you are worshipping something that is not God. You are worshipping something that is demonic, something that satan hides behind to even speak to you and put thoughts in your mind, and while you're worshipping them, you're hearing voices in your heads, and you think it is indeed a god who is alive, when it is not a god, it is just a wood, it is just a stone, it is just a snake, it is just anything else, every single thing that the One True God created.

God did not create them to become false Gods, He created them to help us use them in different ways, like burning the wood to cook our food, as heating in winter, and stones to build houses, and more.

And those who worship false gods will be punished by the One true God, whether they believe in Him or not, if they don't turn from those evil ways and seek Him, who created them. The One True God created them, and they are still under His authority, even if they have given themselves false gods. They are choosing to worship false gods.

So why does God say He is a jealous God?

Because He created you, He created you to be His; He created you to be with Him in Heaven, He created you not to share you with satan; He created you not to let you become the servants of demons. And you are now going to worship those idols, and by doing so, you are making God jealous. It's like a husband cheating on his wife, or a wife cheating on her husband. Are you not jealous when that happens? Don't you feel betrayed? And as parents, don't you feel protective jealousy when you see that a gangster is about to take your children from you and ruin them, and though you love them and want to save them, they won't let you, they won't listen to you, because they have free will and think they know what they want?

And since God is good, and He hates sins, wouldn't He abandon those who disobey His moral law to their fate, in the hands of the gangster, satan, whom they have chosen, and so, they would no longer have the Lord's protection from evil and demons, and their bodies would become their nests?

So, God is saying, "I'm a jealous God. It is protective jealousy. God loves you, He created You, and He knows that only with Him you are saved, and only with Him your soul is safe. Only with Him you can go to Heaven. And without Him, you are lost in the world, you are lost in the darkness, you are lost, (on) your way to hell, and you will perish in hell. And hell is not an easy place. Nothing can extinguish the fire of hell. And God knows the pain you will have. And that's why He sent His Son Jesus to save us from hell, from the darkness. But if, after that, you are still worshipping idols, practising rebellion against God, you will, after all, go through that pain that God did not want you to go through.

That is why He is a jealous God; He created you all by Himself, through His Son Jesus, without any help from false gods, satan and demons. He is a protective God, and we should consider ourselves blessed that He Is. Those who love are protective.

In Genesis 1, He says,

"Let us create man in our own image." He is speaking to His Son, Jesus and His Holy Spirit, not to satan who is the master of all false gods.

So, when He was creating humans in His own image, satan was not part of it, and demons were not part of it. Satan had already rebelled against God at this point.

What kind of parent does not get jealous when they see their child, whom they love, going with the gangster, and the murderers, and they know that those children are lost forever if they don't wake up and listen to their parents. Do you think those parents are not jealous? Moral earthly parents often say, concerning other humans, "No one can love my kid more than I do." And God knows that no one can love you more than He does.

And that is why He is pleading for you to not worship idols of any kind because behind those idols are demons and satan, their master, just as they are behind any sin.

And now, if someone, still, after hearing this, wants to worship idols, this is exactly what will happen.

"For I am the Lord, Your God, I am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me..."

Yes, what does our Lord God mean by this?

Let me explain to you. Okay, suppose your parents hate God, and they are some of those idolaters who worship graven images, and they brought you up as a child, and when you were born, you were born in it.

And now you grow up in idolatrous worship, that worship of idols, worship of demons, worship of satan; so your parents obviously hate God. Now, by hating God, they have brought up their children in such a way that even their children turn out to be just like their parents. Their children grow up also to hate God and to pick up the sins of their fathers, and the sins of their fathers become their sins. Suppose you are a hater of the One True God, you don't believe in God, and you bring your children to also not believe in God and to also hate God. Then what is going to happen to your children, whom you have trained to hate God? They will receive the same punishment as you. Why? Because they have grown to follow their fathers, to follow you, their daddy, who had trained them to hate God, and to worship idols, and to disregard the One True God. So, God is not going to make a difference between you, the parents, who have sinned, and your grown-up sons and daughters who have also sinned and have followed the steps of their father. So, the sins of their parents have become the sins of the children, and the children have welcomed them, because now that the children are old enough to know right from wrong, they did not turn from that sin; they continued the sin of their parents. And since their parent was a hater, they began also to hate God. Since their parents did not believe in God, they also did not believe in God. Since their parents were worshipping idols, they also began to worship idols, and for this reason, the sins of their parents have become theirs. And it will keep on going like that up to the 3rd and fourth generations of those who hate God. Their descendants will hate God, worshipping idols. And if they're murderers, and they will murder, and their children will pick it up and become the same, and embrace the sins of their parents. If they're rebellious, they will rebel against the One True God, who created them, and against the Only Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who could have saved their souls, if only they had let go of their parents' sins and sought the the Lord and His truth, and many will be in hell because of the sins of their parents, which they have also embraced and practiced gladly and willingly as theirs. So that is what it means when Father God said He will punish the children for the sins of their parents up to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Him.

God said in Zechariah 1:4, and 2 Chronicles 30:7, and Luke 9:35

Zechariah 1:4 2 Chronicles 30:7 Luke 9:35

"Do not make the same mistakes that your ancestors did; listen to My Son, Jesus, now. I gave you My Son; listen to Him."

Yes, don't make the same mistake that your ancestors did, because if you follow your ancestors and practice their sins, and grow up, even your children and your grandchildren will pick up what your ancestors began. And you, even in this generation, will be punished for the sins of your ancestors because you have welcomed those sins and have made them yours.

The Lord God also said in Ezekiel 18:20,

Ezekiel 18:20

"The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness."

Deuteronomy 24:16,

Deuteronomy 24:16

“Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes."

Jeremiah 31:30,

Jeremiah 31:30

"All people will die for their own sins—those who eat the sour grapes will be the ones whose mouths will pucker."

This means, for example, if your son robs a bank, he should be the one to be sentenced to prison for it, but not his innocent parents, brother or friends. And if it is a father who committed a crime, but his son is not involved, only the father shall be condemned for his crime. However, anyone who gets involved in someone else’s sin and sins together with them will also be punished, even if they did not initiate that sin.

That is the consequence of sin, disobedience to the One True God. It does not hurt one person or one generation only, but many. Although many people may welcome the sins of their parents, it is still they who chose them and practised them willingly now that they're adults and independent. And their parents, who wrongly influenced them, will perish because of their own sins, and the children, old enough to know right from wrong, will perish because of their own sins. They have joined in to practice the sins of their parents, or those around them, and those sins have become their own, and unless those who are still alive can turn from them, repent and seek God's forgiveness, they will also perish. So, God is fair, just, good, and He hates sins, and will punish those who practise sin and do not turn from them.

He sent His Son, so that people can look up to Him and let him take their sins away.

The Lord Jesus said in Luke 13:3,

Luke 13:3

"Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God."

If evil spirits have been in your home and with your parents, and your parents have worshipped them, of course, those same demons would pass themselves on to their children, given that their children also welcome those evil spirits. But suppose your parents are idolaters, or nonbelievers, or haters of any kind, and they have passed it on to you. But at one point in your life, you realise it is wrong, and you have turned from that sin and seek the One true God, and you came to the God of the Bible, and you gave your life to Him, and let Him in your life, and repented to Him, and He rescued you, of course, He will not punish you for the sins of your father. You have rejected the sins of your father. Now that you are old enough to know right from wrong, you have understood that the ways of your parents were not good. And for this, you have made the best decision of your life by turning from the wrong ways of your parents. You have cut yourself off from it by giving your life to the Lord Jesus Christ and welcoming the gift of eternal life He offered you on the Cross when He died also for you.

The Holy Bible says,

"Bring the children up in the way they should go, so that when they're old, they will not turn from it."

So if you bring your children up in the ways of the Lord, they will follow the ways of the Lord, if they have listened, because the truth you brought them up with has rooted in them. But if instead, you bring your children up in the ways of satan, you are bringing them up in the ways that you want them to go. That is not the right way. The way to go is the way to Heaven. "Bring them up in the way they should go." Where are they going? We are on this journey, heading to Heaven. Since God created everyone, parents are here to bring their children to know their Creator and to follow the way to Heaven. Christ Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He says, "I'm the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me." No one goes to Heaven except through Christ. Christ is the Door of Heaven.

So when we bring the children up in the way they should go, the way they should go is the way to Heaven, to the Lord Jesus, their salvation, to Father God Almighty.

But when the opposite happens, and many parents bring their children up in the darkness, in a disbelieving and idolatrous world, teaching them that God doesn't exist, and others make them worship false gods, those children are being brought up to go in the direction of hell; they have been brought up for satan. And though many parents don't know what they're doing, it still stands that if those children never find their way to the Lord God, they are lost forever, and their parents or anyone who brought them up in such a way have contributed to their eternal damnation.

But suppose some of these children were to die when they're not old enough to know right from wrong, they would go to Heaven. Christ will not bring a child to His Judgment seat to judge them. The Bible clearly says that those who are not old enough to know right from wrong will enter Heaven.

But if, when they're old enough to know right from wrong, they choose to do wrong, they will be punished if they have not turned from the sins their ancestors began.

So that is what it means. That's what the Lord is teaching me; God's Holy Spirit helps to understand this.

In Exodus 20:6, which is still God's Commandment Number two, God says,

Exodus 20:6

"But showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My Commandments."

What God means here:

Those who love Him reflect His blessings. So, when you see those who love God, you see the love of God pouring into their lives, and God is showing love in their lives, because they have allowed God to do that. They have let God in. God loves everyone, but if someone does not let God in, they cannot see God's love in their lives because they are blocking God's love with their sins. However, those who love God don't block God's love with their sins because there is no sin that they are practising. And even if they made a mistake and sinned without knowing, they would repent of their sins as soon as they notice that they have sinned.

God loves everyone that He sent His Son, Jesus, on the Cross to save everyone. But not everyone received Him, not everyone accepted His forgiveness, not everyone welcomed that eternal salvation He offered to give.

So this is how it is. The ones who welcome God and accept Him and show that love to God and listen to God and obey Him, He will show His love to them to a thousand generations of those who love Him. However, those who worship idols, the difference is that they block God out, cut Him out, so you don't see God's love in their lives, you don't see God's miracles, so pronounced in their lives, because they are blocking them.

That is why, as soon as an idolator or a disbeliever realises they've been wrong and come to God, they begin to feel God's love. That is not when God is beginning to love them; God has always loved them, but their sins that used to block God's love that they could not feel God's love, are no longer there because they have repented and turned from their ways, and God has blotted all those sins out. And once there are no sins, coming between you and God, nothing is preventing you from feeling the Love of God, from feeling the presence of God, and you will see God's blessings in your life, because there is nothing, there is no unrepented sin blocking the Lord and His blessings.

God's love is for everyone, but if people don't welcome Him and don't welcome that love, they don't feel it. That is why we Christians, especially those who are in the Lord, speak about miracles, 'God's miracles fill my life and His love I feel it.' And when you're speaking to some people, how great God is, and they're just looking at you like that and think, "Oh, what?" And when you're telling people how God is beautiful, how great He is and telling them the great things He does in your life, most just think it's fantasy, because they don't know what you're talking about, they have not experienced them, and they will not experience them, unless they let God in.

So yes, that is Commandment number Two. God is love. Yes.

And Commandment number Three:

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name."

Misusing God's name, like saying God's name in vain. We see many who don't believe in God, yet they blaspheme and use His Name and the Name of His Son, Jesus, as a curse word. Jesus is the Name above all names, the Name that brings glory to His Father God Almighty, the Name given to Him by His Father. And when anyone lets their own mouths curse that Name, they are portraying themselves as satan's children, because, indeed, demons are the ones using you to curse and defile God's Name, and you are letting them. You may not know the severity of this, you may not know satan is the one using you to get at the Lord Jesus and Father God Almighty, but it is the case, and every wrong thing done has its adverse consequences. We are in a battle between good and evil. But should you let your mouth become satan's tool for his evil purpose and your body his channel through which he pollutes the earth with his evil to oppose the Lord God, or should you let the One who is good, the one who is the Hero in the battle between good and evil, the One who loves you indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ, and has come to save you, bless you for the sake of many? God is love, and rejecting God is rejecting love.

The truth is, anyone who blasphemes the Name of the Lord, curses it or swears by it, or uses it in any inappropriate way, is guilty in God's eyes. Every single human, believer or unbeliever, will be judged by the Lord's moral law.

The Lord Jesus said in John 12:48,

John 12:48

"There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day."

Let us remember that His words are His Father's words; the words He speaks are His Father's. He is the Word of God. And those same words, including God the Father's Ten Commandments, will be used on the Last Day.

God is saying here in His Commandment number Three that

'You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His Name.'

He is speaking like this to believers, and since He doesn't want even believers to misuse His Name, let alone the unbelievers.

So everyone who is blaspheming God's Name and pronouncing His Name in vain is guilty of that. But they repent and turn from it. If you're guilty of a sin against God, you stop doing that thing, say sorry to God, and the Lord forgives, and you're not guilty anymore.

One of the great things that the Lord does is that, when He forgives, He blots out all your sins, like they never existed. And He would not mention those sins against you. So, if you're guilty now because you're practising that sin or any other, if you stop doing it and repent of your sins, then God will forgive you, given that you are truly genuine and have turned from those ways. He will forgive you, and once He forgives you, it is like, in the eyes of the Lord, you've never committed those sins. And if you don't practice new sins, you'll still be in the Lord, and keep listening to the Lord, and keep living for the Lord.

The Lord God said in Ezekiel 33:12,

Ezekiel 33:12

"... the wicked behavior of wicked people will not destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins."

So, God is Love, so forgiving, gracious and merciful.

Commandment number Four.

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 male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 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."

This is one of the most complex Commandments of the Lord. But we must understand that this 'Sabbath,' there is more to it; there is a deep meaning behind this Commandment number four, and there is more to this Hebrew word 'Sabbath.' We should not just look at the surface; we must go deeper to understand the Will of God. There is a physical and spiritual meaning. And since it is quite complex, it cannot be explained in this sermon. So, please, for the Spiritual meaning, listen to my sermon published on February 25, 2026, entitled 'Jesus Is Lord Even Over The Sabbath'. And as for the physical meaning, it will be in another sermon.

So, we're going to move on to Commandment Number Five. So yes, this is

Commandment number Five.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."

Yes, this is clear: Honour your father and your mother.

Suppose your mother and your father are axe murderers, do you honour them?

But suppose your parents are godly parents, moral parents; you should honour them.

If your father and mother are opposing God's righteous ways, then they are on the other side. And if you love evil like they do, you'll also be deceived; you'll all be in darkness together. So to avoid that, respect them for the fact that they gave birth to you, but don't follow their wrong ways, don't follow them into darkness. If they're sinning, ensure that you don't also sin against God. If they're going against the Lord Jesus, who is good and righteous, just, and Truth, the Saviour, and eternal life, and they want you to choose between God and them, then choosing them will mean that you are also rejecting God and His Son, Jesus. The sad thing about this is that rejecting God indeed means accepting satan, who is evil, darkness, a liar, and is the opposite of everything that comes from the One True God. However, many do so without realising it and choose satan without actually saying a word to him, but just by welcoming his deeds of darkness and sins.

This is when the Lord Jesus says in Matthew 10:37,

Matthew 10:37

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me."

Honour your father and mother.

Yes, we should not forget this. Our fathers and mothers were put on this earth by the Heavenly Father. So listening to God, we honour our earthly father and mother, but most of all, we do not forget to honour, to revere God, the Father, our heavenly Father, for He is the number one Father for all humans, whether they know this or not. Heaven is the number one Home for all humans; that's what God has always intended for every human He created. As for whether each person welcomes that for themself, that is another matter. But it stands still that God, the Father, has created us all, through His Son Jesus, and for this reason, we should honour Him and His Son above all.

So obeying Commandment number five means honouring our earthly fathers and mothers and, most of all, honouring our Heavenly Father, revering our Heavenly Father. In doing so, we are blessed.

Those who don't honour their moral and godly parents are committing rebellion against the Lord God. And those who honour their evil parents to the point that they join them in darkness are also rebelling against God's Commandment number five and the Lord Jesus' Commandment number Two. Also, those who mistreat their parents, insult them, abuse them, quarrel with them continually, under the pretext that they are not behaving, or that they are unfit, and that they are not listening, are rebelling against God's Commandment number five and the Lord Jesus' Commandment number Two. If your parents are not behaving well, according to you, your abuse, insults, and disrespect toward them won't fix them. The Lord never told you to behave as such with those whom you claim are doing as you say. The Lord says to love even your enemies, and surely, your parents who gave birth to you are not really your enemies. Seek help from the Lord Jesus, and also repent of your sins, and let the Lord help you know what to do. Most of the time, children who behave like this are indeed the ones who are not listening to their parents, but they are convinced they are in the right. Dishonouring your parents is a deadly sin in God's eyes. Ensure that it is the Lord finding you blameless, and not you alone finding yourself blameless while indeed you have many unrepented sins.

If we are honouring our parents, we will still have long days here on earth. If people are sinning against their parents, it may cut their lives short. Because disobedience to God and His moral Law just brings demons in our homes, and we begin to fight and we divide, and the children may leave the house and go somewhere else, and while they're there, they're in darkness and may team up with a gang while down the street and die even before their time because of the bad life they've chosen to go for. However, if they had obeyed the Lord God, there would be peace in their homes. There would be peace, there would be love, there would be unity, and everyone would look forward to coming back home. But if that home is a place of war, because people are not respecting God's Commandments, it just drives them away, further into the darkness.

How many times did we hear our earthly parents telling their children not to do something; they know that what they're about to do is not good for them, and they would tell them,

"No, don't do this. Don't go and do that thing you are about to do. No, don't do it, I'm telling you, don't do it, it's not good for you. don't do it."

And they will insist, and they will insist, and the children will not listen. The children eventually will say, "I know. I know what I'm doing; it is my life. I know what I'm doing, mum, I'm so sure about it. Dad, I'm so sure, I know what I'm doing." And they would not listen to their father, and they would not listen to their mother, who's supposed to know what they're talking about. Don't we hear these kinds of things every day, parents, warning their children, 'Don't do this, don't do that?" And they say, "Well, Ma, it is my life. I'll do it because it is my life."

How many times did we hear parents say, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

And then the children go and get hurt and cry. Some would die, some would be injured, and often the parent would pick up the pieces if they're not dead. So, what do you expect when the Lord is telling you that these Commandments are for your own sake, for your own good? 'Listen to Me,' but then you refuse to listen to God.

God is not going to seize you and keep you in a room; God is not going to tie you up with a rope to prevent you from doing what you want to do. But He knows that you're going to get hurt. He is telling us not to do certain things because those things are not good for us; those things will only damage us, damage our souls, damage our lives, damage our bodies. And if you refuse to listen to Him, He will let you do it, and you'll kill yourself spiritually, because every single thing that comes from disobeying God brings spiritual death. Disobedience to God brings spiritual death. And if people never truly stop and learn to practice obedience to the Lord, to what is good always, moral and just, righteous, then they will be hurt for eternity, and that would have been the choice they have made. And that will have nothing to do with the great Lord who wanted to save you. He has love for you. He has everything for you. But you must come and take it. You must welcome what He has offered you on the Cross. God is love. And all He does is love. He loves you. He loves me. He loves us all. And that is His Character. Beautiful Character.

So, Commandment Number Six

You shall not murder.

Yes, we all know what murder is.

To show us how severe this sin is in God's eyes, the Lord Jesus even said this in Matthew 5:21-22:

Matthew 5:21

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment."

And in 1 John 3:15,

1 John 3:15

"Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer."

This is because unrigteous anger and hatred in your heart for someone who doesn't know the Lord Jesus can bring only curses and death upon them, not blessings. Hatred can bring stress to someone who is weak and kill them physically. And so, you would have murdered them in your heart. Hatred is the opposite of love. God is love. However, satan is hate and unrighteous anger. So the Lord Jesus and His Father do not want us to have anything to do with the sinful ways of satan and demons. God is love, God is good; therefore, He hates evil and will punish anyone who loves it.

And Commandment number Seven.

You shall not commit adultery.

You should not commit adultery against your wife, and the wife shall not commit adultery against her husband. And the biggest of all is adultery against God. When people are with God, then they leave Him for false gods, or while they are with God, they're still doing their own way. Doing your own way is adultery against God. Your ways are demonic because they oppose God's ways which are always good and righteous. You're taking things from demons. So, you're cheating on God with demons. Adultery against God is when you are loving the deeds of darkness; when, as a believer, you are worshipping influential humans as if they were God. And anything else that you allow to take the number one place in your heart.

The Scripture says in 1 John 5:21,

1 John 5:21

"Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts."

By doing so, you are actually committing adultery against God, who is your Saviour, who is your Creator, who is the One who died for you on the Cross. The Lord Jesus died for you on the Cross, and you believed. Yes, you believed. You have given your life to Christ. Yet, if you're still living for yourself and still loving the things of the world, you're still taking things from evil spirits, whether you know it or not, that is adultery against God. So, there are two types of adultery: against a husband and wife, and against God. And that is Commandment number Seven.

And Commandment Number Eight

15 “You shall not steal.

Yes, we all know what that is.

And Commandment Number NINE

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor."

You shall not lie, yes.

A lie can be in many forms.

If you lie against God, bear false accusations against God, claiming to know God, and you say that He did things when He did not do, you accuse Him of doing wrong things, it is bearing false witness against God. You are bearing false witness against God. Any false witness that you may bear against anyone, you are disobeying God also; you are breaking God's Commandment by lying.

A lie could be just something that may cause another person to be in trouble. You may have done something, and you see somebody being arrested for something that you did, and you let that person go along without telling them that it was you who did it. That, you have lied, you have borne false witness against your neighbour.

Lying here is any lie that hurts people. There are some lies that can be called 'white lies'. For example, suppose I see somebody running away, trying to save their life, and some gangsters are after them. And that person runs and hides in my house, and those gangsters pass by and ask me, "Have you seen that person?" And if I sense that person is so frightened, I could say, "I have not seen that person." That will be called 'white lies'. And that is a lie to save someone's life.

In fact, in the Old Testament, when Joshua sent the spies to Jericho, Rahab did that. They were after them, and Rahab hid them in her house. And when they asked, she said, "No, they're not here." She lied. But that was a lie to save lives, because she saw that in that situation, those spies were innocent; they were the servants of the Lord. What God does isn't unrighteous. God is always working for righteous purposes.

There are many lies that many have told to protect someone else. I'm not talking about the lies that are hiding sins against God, or any lie that promotes sin. That is not a white lie at all. Any lie that causes people to be condemned when they did nothing wrong. Those are breaking God's Commandment number Nine, and those who do that will be judged. And if they don't repent, they will be sentenced to hell. That's God's Commandments, not mine. And what God says, He does.

And finally Commandment Number Ten.

17 “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.”

'Covet' here is wanting to have something that someone else has, or you envy them for something they have. This is bitter envy and bitter jealousy; you want something that someone has to the point that you want to kill them for it. You see that they are living well in the Lord, and they are blessed, but you are living in sin, and you're not listening to the Lord, and your ways are not approved by the Lord, and you want what they have so much that you kill them for it, or you just hate them for it, or you just shun them for it, or you reach out to take it for force.

In fact, we see Cain in the Holy Bible; he killed His brother because God was welcoming the sacrifice of Abel more than Cain's because Abel's ways were righteous, but Cain's ways were already evil. In fact, he was the first murderer, the first one satan used to murder. So that is envy.

We are all capable of jealousy here and here. For example, we just read the Second Commandment, "You shall not bow down before graven images."

So God says He is a Jealous God. There is righteous, healthy jealousy; protective jealousy. All of us are capable of protective jealousy. Like, if I see that my husband wants to cheat on me, that makes me Jealous. Or if I want to cheat on my husband, that will make my husband definitely jealous. But that is healthy jealousy. If you couldn't be jealous if your husband wants to cheat on you, then there is not really love there. So that is the kind of jealousy that God has. God does not sin. And He does not covet. He owns everything; He is above all things. Who is there among spiritual and human beings for Him to envy? No one. No satan, no demon, no human.

But when it comes to envy, which is unhealthy, which is bitter jealousy, you hate someone for something they have, you want what they have, that is sin.

So now that we have finished God's Ten Commandments, how do they relate to our Lord Jesus Christ?

In Matthew 22:35-40,

Matthew 22:35–40

an expert in religious law tried to trap Jesus with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these Two Commandments.”

Jesus' First Commandment is about love, to love God, the Father. And the Second Commandment is to love our Neighbour. So, God's Ten Commandments are Jesus' Two Commandments, and Jesus' Two Commandments are God the Father's Ten Commandments. Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments into Two which are about love.

We cannot genuinely follow God's Ten Commandments without following the Lord Jesus' Two Commandments, and we cannot genuinely follow the Lord Jesus' Two Commandments without following God's Ten Commandments because they are the same, the Lord Jesus had explained His Father's Ten Commandments, He has summed them up into two, meaning it is all about Love; Love for God and love for our neighbour. And He demonstrated that Love on the Cross for us to see. He and His Father are ONE. And He said, "If You love Me, obey My commandments, and His Commandments are also His Father's, and His Father's Commandments are also His, and if we love God the Father and God, the Son, Jesus, we obey His Commandments.

So when people misunderstand God, it is because they don't know God, and they don't understand the Bible. The Ten Commandments are all about LOVE; from the first one to the tenth are all about love. Commandment number One to Commandment number Four are for God, meaning how we should behave towards God. Jesus' first Commandment, which is "Love the Lord, Your God, with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul. And from the Fifth Commandment to the Tenth, they are for the neighbour; meaning how we should behave towards our neighbour. Jesus' Second Commandment. Love Your Neighbour as Yourself."

It is indeed true when I say it's all about love. Because if we start with Commandment number One, if you truly love God, you will not bow down

to graven images, you will not even dream or think of having false gods. And if you truly love God, you will not pronounce His Name in vain.

If you truly love Him, you will not be worshipping idols.

If you genuinely love the Lord, you will not welcome things from demons and have them use your body as their nests while it is supposed to be the Temple of God's Holy Spirit.

If you truly love God, you will not be sinning against Him; you will be obeying Him and living for Him, and listen to what He says and trust Him. If you love Him, you will not misuse His Name; you will seek to understand His words so that you can put them into practice. So, every single Commandment, by respecting the Ten Commandments, we are loving God.

And when it comes to the neighbour, from Commandment number five, "Honour your father and mother,' that is the first Commandment that is for neighbour.

If you love God, you will honour your father and your mother. If we truly love our parents, we will honour them. We cannot dishonour a parent if we truly love them, especially our godly parents.

Commandment number six: If we truly love our neighbour, we cannot murder them because, when we're murdering people, we are killing a body that God created, we ra taking lives from people. God created us and gave us life. But when people are murdering others, they are taking that life that God gave them. So, if you love someone, you will not murder them.

Commandment number seven: If you love your husband, you won't commit adultery against him. If you love your wife, you won't commit adultery against them. If you love God, you won't commit adultery against Him.

Commandment number eight: If you truly love someone, you won't steal from them, you won't take what belongs to them, you won't hurt them in such a way by taking something from them that you did not put there.

Commandment number nine: If you truly love someone, you won't bear false witness against them. If you truly love people, you won't lie against them, you won't falsely accuse them for doing nothing wrong. And if you love God, you won't do that either. So,

Commandment number ten: So, if you truly love your neighbour, you won't covet what is his; you won't want to have his house to the point that you'll kill him for it. You won't envy him to the point that you become bitter

and evil. And if you love God, you won't break any of His moral Commandments.

So, as we can see, that Is Jesus. People have misunderstood God's ways; they have gotten God wrong. So, the Lord had to send His Son to save us on the Cross and also to explain these teachings to us, so that we would understand that the same God who is in the Old Testament is the same God who is in the New Testament.

Some people seem to believe that the God of the Old Testament is a different God from the Lord Jesus, because they have all misunderstood God, and they all see God as evil, when God has done nothing wrong. And it is written that no sin is found in God, no evil is found in God.

God has time and time again pleaded with us about who He is and His beautiful Character. And everyone who has listened has seen it, and they have learned and understood who God is. God cannot do evil. He is not evil; He cannot do evil. God is good, and God is love. And the Lord Jesus came, not only to save us on the Cross, but to put this thing right for people to understand that many have borne false witness against God, the Father.

And God always works for the righteous purpose. When people don't understand the righteous purpose of God, they let satan put all the lies in their minds against God, against a holy God, against a perfect God, they carry all their evil opinions around, thinking that they know, but they know nothing. They are just making themselves enemies of God by saying things that they don't know what they're talking about. So Christ came to explain this. He summed up the Ten Commandments into Two which is all about love.

And when people understand this, they truly love, they truly listen to those Commandments. We understand that we cannot live without God's Commandments in our lives. We understand that no one can behave without God's commandments. No one can love without God's commandments. No one. No one can truly have peace and be united as Christ prayed in John 17. And our Lord came to plead for us in order to save us.

The Lord Jesus would not just save us on the Cross and leave without giving us the teachings and promising us His Holy Spirit. For it is His Holy Spirit who helps us, reminding us of the truth. It is His Holy Spirit indeed guiding me here and teaching me this.

The Lord Jesus finishes by saying in John 13:34-35, "A New Command I give you. Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another."

John 13:34–35

And we must abide by these Commandments.

So, Father God sent His Son and said to us, "Listen to My Son."

Revelation 1:8

Revelation 1:8

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.

Revelation 22:13

Revelation 22:13

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

We should listen to the One who is The First and the Last, who was there first, and will always be; the One who Is, Who Was, and Who Is to Come, The Almighty. The Truth, the Christ, who sets us free from darkness and lies. Amen.

May the Lord Jesus' peace be with you.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for all these teachings. Thank You for Your love and Your peace. Your will be done, my God, whatever You plan to do, please go ahead and do it, my God. Thank You for such a beauty, for such a truth. I pray, Lord, that people's hearts will open, and their eyes will be open, and their ears will be open, and their hearts will soften.

That they will open their hearts, so that this truth will enter and reassure them that it is indeed the truth and if they listen to it, they are safe, and if they remain into it, they will be saved.

So, Lord, thank You so much, God.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all this. Holy Father, thank You for this journey You took me on. Thank You, Father God Almighty, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob. Thank you for hearing my prayer, Lord, in the Name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.