Turn with me in your Bibles to Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. I'm going to start a 2 part series today entitled "Ten commands for right living". Over the next 2 weeks we're going to look into the Law of the Lord, into the 10 commandments and see what they mean. Not just how they applied then but how they apply to us today. The word of God is the same yesterday, today and forever because God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, fear God and keep his commandments for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgement including every secret thing whether good or evil".
Father, this morning we thank you for your presence here, we thank you for your word. Lord, may it fill us, may you have your way in us. May we decrease and may you increase, in your name, amen.
Every kingdom, every nation has laws and the same is with the Kingdom of God. How many of you are glad to be an American today? How many are even more glad to be a Christian? Laws help us to stay in right relationship with authority. They help us to stay in right relationship with each other. They help keep people safe and help make sure that society doesn't break down into chaos. When laws are kept there is blessing and when laws are broken there is justice.
The ten commandments, some people wonder why it's something we even need to look at in church. Why would that be something we need to study? The reason we need to look at it is because the ten commandments are not an archaic set of rules, they are God's will for man. They are God's will for you and for me. People have called them the backbone of civilization. The truth is the ten commandments have been understood to be the gold standard for all countries to have a sure foundation for their law.
Most people used to be able to recite them by heart. In public school, at the very founding of our nation and into this century, one of the things our kids had to learn were the ten commandments. When you even go to most churches today you would be hard pressed to find people who could actually tell you five of them by heart, let alone name all ten. As a matter of fact, there was a survey that was done of many churches of different denominations and sizes and people in the church had a hard time even naming five. It is God's will for man and we have a hard time even saying what they are.
These ten commandments are not suggestions, they are not options. They are specific instruction of God's moral law for your life and for mine. When I came in to preach here today I didn't come to preach a hard message but to teach because when we have his law in our heart and we understand it then we do have the benefits of that law. It's important.
Psalms 19:7-11 says this, "The law of the Lord is perfect". The truth is the law of God is perfect, there's not a mistake in it. Mankind has written laws and how many have found the laws of America to not be perfect?
"The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever. The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. Moreover by them your servant is warned and in keeping them there is great reward".
I was half tempted when I began to make this a 3 part series because I was ready to just preach on all of that. I want to encourage you this week to get Psalm 19 and look at verses 7-11 and really understand this. The truth is this that the law of God converts and restores the soul. God gave his law, his will and his purpose so that you and I could be changed, could be whole and clean. The law makes us wise and living within his law brings great rejoicing. The Bible says that the commands of God open our eyes so that we can know his ways. I want you to hear me this morning, God never desires for one person in this world to ever live confused. God made his word simple and his law understandable so that we don't have to have questions and so we can walk uprightly before him.
I thank God for that one judge in Alabama who decided he was going to put the ten commandments in his courtroom and I'm glad he fought it all the way to the supreme court. The truth is this, we need the ten commandments more than ever before in our nation, not only to help us with the laws of the land but to help us with the heart of our land so that as a nation and as a people we can live correctly and not only pleasing to God but also pleasing to each other.
His commands are more than a list of do's and dont's. As a matter of fact as we begin to read these you'll begin to find out that they have far greater impact than just saying you can do this and you shouldn't do that. Man's laws change with the winds and the fancy depending on the mood of a culture. For instance, abortion used to be universally unacceptable. You could go back years ago and everyone knew that it was wrong. Everyone just had this natural moral understanding that taking the life of a child wasn't right. But now people's minds and the mood of the culture has changed so the laws of the nation have changed. I want you to hear this, God's law never changes. As a matter of fact we know that God's law is written in stone. It was never meant to be erased, it was never meant to be changed.
Exodus 31:12 says, "And when God had made an end of speaking with him (that was Moses) on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone written with the finger of God". No where else in history do we see the finger of God writing down his specific will in stone physically for man to see and for man to understand. How many of you believe that if God took the time to write it specifically so we could have it we ought to pay attention to it?
The ten commandments are divided into two parts. The first four are dealing with our relationship to God and the last six are dealing with our relationship to each other as men and women. This morning we're just going to look at the first four and next week we'll go through the last six. How many know we need to have his word in our heart?
Exodus chapter 20 is where we find the ten commandments. They are important. As a matter of fact when I was praying over this there had been a different set of messages planned and the Lord said, "I want you to change what you're going to preach because one of the things I've been speaking to this church is that my will would be done". This is God's will for man.
Exodus 20:1-3, "And God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage". How many know, you may not have been brought out of bondage like the Israelites but how many of you have been brought out of the slavery from your sin and your past? How many of you are thankful that God has brought you through? He is so good and faithful. God reminds us who he is, "I am the God who brought you through". Then he says in verse 3 of chapter 20, "You shall have no other Gods before Me".
The issue here is our love and loyalty to God. In Mark 12:30 it says, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first commandment".
If you look at verse 29 it says this, "Hear O' Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one". There is just one God, there is just one way, there is just one word and one God.
First of all, God condemns multiple Gods. We think that's odd in our culture today but it really isn't. It might seem like an odd concept because America was founded by those who came here to worship one God, but today on our soil there are many who worship multiple Gods. In our county we do have Hindu temples. Hindus worship over 1000 so called deities. Paul, when he was ministering in Athens, Greece saw that they had many altars because they wanted to worship and he noticed that they had an altar that was empty with no statue in its place and it was an altar to an unknown God. They wanted to have their bases covered. They wanted to make sure whether they knew the truth or not that somehow one way or the other they were going to get it right.
Listen to me, that is what religion does and those who don't understand who God really is. Jesus bases his walk with us on relationship, not on having the bases covered, not on just doing things right but doing the things his way. The real issue this morning is that there is only one way and Jesus is that way.
Today there is a not so new religion that is being proclaimed. Lots of housewives and men who don't work day jobs who sit back and watch tv will tell you that this is permeating our society. On a recent television show of Oprah Winfrey she declared that there are many paths to what many of us call God. In her audience was a born again Christian and she stood up and with great boldness said, "No there's not, there is only one way and that is through Jesus Christ, our lord and savior". Instead of a handclap, people began to boo and Oprah singled her out being visibly upset and said, "That couldn't possibly be true, there are many ways to that God". The Bible says clearly that there is only one way and that is through Jesus.
Church, the ten commandments are more important today than they have ever been in history. There is only one God, there is only one Savior, there is only one Lord and his name is Jesus Christ. He is the son of God, we must know that, we must proclaim that, we must not doubt that and in this generation make no mistake, there is an assault on that one way like never before. If you and I are going to live in the will of God and serve our God we must know that there is only one God.
Israel began to worship other Gods, Gods's own people, the God who led them through the desert, the ones who saw him physically in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. People who saw him and knew him began to turn from Him and follow other Gods. As a matter of fact when Moses went up on the mountain, he took a little longer in the presence of God and the people were afraid of the mountain because God was there, fire and smoke and trembling was there, but they got impatient. They even began to worship an Idol that they had Aaron make and form in the fire a golden calf. Listen to me, even today that happens, those of us who have served God, those of us who have seen Him. How many of you have seen the Lord been faithful in your life, you have watched him guide you and direct you but today people have become discouraged and disheartened. Things happen in their life and instead of continuing to look to the Lord, they'll look to other things to begin to fill that place of God. "Thou shall have no other Gods before me".
Even today in the Catholic Church, people pray to statues. All around America people will bow down and worship saints. This is Idol worship and we must not mistake it. Idolatry is also forming a God in our own image. Someone said this, "God created man in his own image and man has been trying to return the favor ever since, creating God in their own image". Idolatry deals with our image of God. What we see, who we know, do we serve the God of this word or are we trying to create a God that suits our fancy, our current standards, our current cultural morals? That is serving another God. We make him to be who we want him to be. Too many people create a God whom they're comfortable with, one who suits their own morality.
In 2nd Corinthians 11:2-4, it says "For I am jealous for you with Godly jealousy for I have betrothed to you one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ but I fear lest somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received or a different gospel which you have not accepted you may well put up with it". Another Christ.
I know you've heard me talk about how I believe God is moving and doing things in the world. I know that there is a revival going on up in Lakeland, but I want to speak a warning. I know people are being healed and I know that there have been babies that have been raised from the dead but there have been those that have been in that revival that have taught they have been visited by an angel named Emma and it helps guide them and teach them. Listen, Paul said, "I fear that you would leave the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus".
I want you to hear me, I don't care how great signs and wonders there are. I believe that God does great things and he does miracles but if we deviate from the word of God and we begin to preach another gospel we better stop running to it and run as far from it as we can, we need to make sure. I want to tell you church, I'm believing for a great move of God in this church, I'm believing for a great move of God in Jupiter. I believe we're going to see the dead raised. I know that will freak some of you out but the Bible said that would happen. I believe we're going to see people healed and see people saved but the Gospel and the God whom we serve is a God who kept things simple for you and me. We don't need to add anything else to it. Do not change the image of God.
People say, "Well, I don't believe in a Jesus who punishes people for sin. Hell is a brutal place and my God isn't like that. My God thinks that its ok if I sleep around because I've been with this same person, we're living together but we love each other. I know we're not married but God would approve because we're committed". Listen, that's not what the word says. We serve one God who has given his word for us. "Thou shall have no other Gods before me". A God is anything that you put priority over our God. Your job, your spouse, your success, your fame, your sports, your leisure time, anything that we put ahead of our God, anything that takes his place is a God that comes over us.
Let me ask you, what do you live for? Who do you live for? I came here this morning to preach a message that I believe God has layed on my heart. There is a work that God is doing in this world, there is a work that God is doing in this church. I'm excited, I know we're not in the other building yet but God is still doing something in this place and when he's finished we'll move on. When he's ready, we'll get another place, that's not the issue. The issue is a church that serves the one and only God that is right and holy and is pure and until then nothing else matters. Who do you worship? That is your God.
I want you to hear this, the Bible says that there is to be no other God before Him. There is no provision in this scripture that says, "Thou shalt not believe that there is no God". This is not a scripture about atheism. The Bible says, "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God". The truth is that all of us know deep down and without excuse that there is a God. God never said, "Don't you dare not believe in me". You go ahead and don't believe that there is a God and God will make himself so real to you that at some point you will have to face that there is a God. The Bible says this, "That at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord". I don't believe that will only be on the day of judgement when we will all stand and say that Jesus Christ is Lord.
The truth is this, that the church is living like that, people who believe that there is no God will know that there is by our lifestyle and our example. They will see the miracles and the signs and wonders of belief as we go and touch other people. As they see lives changed, they will know. All you need to do is just get in your car and drive down the street. You don't believe there is a God, we live right on the ocean, I love to sit there. You can't look at that and know that there is not a God. If you don't believe then I challenge you, you go down there about 8:15, just before sunset, you sit on that beach and you watch God. You wait for the tropical storms to come in a couple of months and I want you to sit and watch. I don't want you to get hurt, don't sit under a tree or get struck by lightning, I just want you to see the power of that storm and that's nothing compared to the power of our God.
Commandment number two, turn with me back to Exodus 20:4, "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in Heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them for I am the Lord your God and I am a jealous God, visiting in the iniquities of the fathers upon the children of the 3rd and 4th generation of those who hate me but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments".
How many of you are thankful for the mercy of God in your life? Listen, I have found that If I will obey Him and I will follow Him even when I mess up I will experience His mercy. Now the 1st and 2nd commandment are not the same but they are closely intertwined. First of all this deals with the idea of Idols. I want you to hear me, the glory of God is beyond comprehension. God has stayed invisible to our eye for a very good reason. The Bible says no man has looked on the face of God and lived but there are many who want to make God in a way that they will be able to understand Him. They have shaped images so that they can know Him. They have made animals so that they can grasp Him, they've made things of the sun and the moon so they can worship Him. The reason God has not been seen is because truly our mind cannot comprehend all that he is. Our body is not capable of absorbing all that he is and knowing all that he is.
I want you to look with me at Romans 1:21-25 and it says this, "Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God. They took parts of his creation and began to worship nor were they thankful but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness and the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves who exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forevermore".
Yesterday I was surprised as I picked up Time magazine. I was looking through it and it was talking about the faith of Tony Blair. It's interesting, he's a Catholic, he believes in God. Listen, even the demons believe in God but I want to tell you he wants to serve God. Britain is one of the most secular societies in all the world. When you mention Jesus you are immediately looked at through intellectual eyes and dismissed as somebody who really is not a thinker, someone who is not well rounded, someone who has a closed heart and a closed mind. The intellectual elite even of America scoff at the idea of God and they have made an image of what they believe God is and they've even begun to declare it that that is man, that man really is God. We are so busy trying to wrap God up in things that we understand so that we can eliminate the purpose of faith and so that we can trust Him.
How many of you have ever had things happen in your life that you don't understand? How many have seen things go on in this world that you don't quite get? Listen, It's ok, the truth is we trust God, we serve a good God and he is faithful. We don't have to mold him into a thing that we can hold, touch and feel. He is meant to be trusted, loved and honored and we must not create Idols to lessen who he is. Everything that is in creation, everything that we see is only a part of what he has made and no Idle will ever adequately portray who he is.
I want you to hear me, In America and around the world there are billions and billions who do bow down to Idols in India, the Muslim countries, the Buddhists. In our nation right now, not only is it important that we don't bow but are you ready to witness to those who do so that they can know who the real God is? Because it will be a whole lifestyle change for them. I'm believing God that we will have a church filled with those who had worshipped other Gods, those who had been Hindus or Buddhists, those who had turned to other things and who now have turned to God. Listen, we will need to teach them and help them to know what a marvelous God we serve and that there is only one.
Commandment number three, Exodus 20:7, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain". Many of us have come to think that not taking the name of the Lord in vain means that we shouldn't cuss using his name and certainly that is true. I believe that God's name and the name of Jesus is not an exclamation that should be used when we are angry or we are hurt. As a matter of fact the name of Jesus is the name that we should call upon when we need help. Christ is Jesus' title, the name Christ means the anointed one, it's not a word that you yell out.
I believe that when we take this verse and only use it to mean that we don't take the name of Jesus and use it as a cuss word, we really diminish what this command is all about. We are not to trivialize his name by using it, to take an oath or declare our honesty. I want you to listen to me, God's name and his character are inseparable. His name and his character are never in question. The Bible says that you and I should let our yes be yes and our no be no. We don't need to swear to God. Listen, if a court asks me to affirm it, I will put my hand on the Bible, I don't have a problem with that, if you want me to say, "Yes, I will tell the truth".
The word, ?take', is important, it means to lift up, to carry or to bear. If I take this microphone and I hold it in my hand, I'm taking it and making it a part of me, who I am as I use it and hold it. To take means to lift up or to bear and the word ?vain' means nothing or emptiness. It implies the idea of vanity or just doing it for looks. When we take the name of Christ and we call ourselves a Christian, we must have the life that backs it up. I will not take the name of my Lord in vain. Who do you serve? I serve Jehovah God, I serve Jesus Christ. I want you to listen to me Christian, don't take that name in vain and don't you let others do it.
We're in a presidential season and there are alot of people who will take the name of Jesus just so they can look good to a certain community of people. Don't buy into the lie, buy into the life and if the person has the life to back it up then they are a Christian. I want to tell you that if you are going to call yourself a Christian, then live like one. When we take the name of Christ we identify ourselves with the creator of all things. If I am a Christian then I obey all that he is. When we claim God as our own, it doesn't matter what anyone else says or does, we will do all that God says. We will live in all his ways and if we do that we haven't taken his name in vain.
2nd Timothy 2:19 says, "Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal, the Lord knows those who are His and let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity". Listen to me church, if you've taken the name of the Lord then I want to encourage you to live for Him in every way. If you say you are a Christian, it means that you have left the life of sin. Now that doesn't mean that you're going to get everything right. How many of you in this room have some trouble getting things right all the time?
The truth is this, there are many days that I fail and I fail miserably but I am not making a lifestyle of sin my habit or habitual life. I am a Christian, therefore I live for Jesus. He is my life, he is my all, he is my everything, he gave his life for me. There is no other God than my God and If I will bear his name then people must see his image in me. Listen, Christians fail and Pastor's fail but if you're going to call yourself a Christian and you're out doing everything else other than what God would do then you've taken his name in vain. Every teenager should know it, every Christian should know it.
I want you to hear me, as your pastor I believe that God is about to do some powerful things in the life of this church. I didn't realize I was going to get this heavy but God is doing a good thing today. His word is true, his word hasn't changed, his law hasn't changed but if we will live right with God then we will never be the same again, this church and this city will never be the same again. Yes, there will be Christians that say, "I don't want any part of that". Listen, if you don't want to live that way, if you don't want to lay down the name of Jesus, then don't give the rest of us a bad name, don't give the name of Jesus a bad name. If you're going to live for him then live for him, If you're not then go do your own thing. Be bold enough to live one way or the other. Listen, I didn't come here to beat you up. How many know that I love you this morning? How many know Jesus loves you this morning but I want to tell you, let's lay it down. The church has been playing for too long.
Commandment number four, "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son or your daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and held it".
This could have been a message all on its own. There is a lot of confusion surrounding this verse, "Honor the Sabbath day". Certainly this is an area that probably every Christian is vulnerable in. The Jews observe the Sabbath day which is Saturday. You watch, we live in a strong Jewish community. Have you noticed those that follow? Their shops are closed. It is amazing to me and I was just watching this the other day that the Muslims will stop five times a day and they will pray towards Mecca. They will stop what they're doing, they will lay out their prayer rug and will kick their shoes off because where they are they believe is holy ground. I've watched them do that at the outlet mall up in Vero Beach out in the parking lot. We came out and they were in full Muslim garb and they got on their knees and bowed down to Mecca.
The Bible says that the Christian is to honor the Sabbath day. Throughout the Middle East you can watch on Fridays as the Muslims honor their day and work stops for them sun up to sundown. On Saturday the Jews stop from sun up to sundown. In America our sabbath is regarded as an option. Truly this is the seventh day or Saturday but the reason the early church began to gather for worship on Sunday was because Christ rose on the first day. Pentecost happened on the first day. The church was created on the first day, three thousand people were saved and began to be gloriously filled with the Holy Spirit. That's why we worship on Sunday.
The sabbath has two purposes. The first is to be a day where we faithfully worship God. The Bible says that we are to sanctify it as a holy day. The truth is that as a Christian we live for God everyday and we're to worship him but we're commanded to set aside a day that is his. In Leviticus it says this, "Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, the feast of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are my feasts. Six days shall work be done but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it, it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings". First of all I want you to understand this, the word ?convocation' is not a vacation day or a fishing trip. The word ?convocation' is an assembly or a gathering of God's people for a sacred purpose. The sabbath is this, it is a day of spiritual pursuit. I want you to hear me, Christianity is not a religion of convenience, it's a day to honor him.
Now before I get legalisitic I want to say this again, I have watched the Muslims get down everyday, 5 times a day and pray. I want to thank God for Chick-Filet. Chick-Filet works in all the malls of the world, they are Christian believers. Do you want to know what they do with their business? They shut it down on Sunday. You go to the mall today and you won't find Chick-Filet open and they are blessed, their company is doing very well. While other people are falling into a recession, Chick-Filet is doing good. As a matter of fact, McDonalds just copied their chicken sandwich and are selling it for a buck but Chick-Filet is leading the way. The Muslims will bow down to Mecca 5 times a day but it's hard to get many Christians to church just one time on a Sunday. Our casualness as Christians sends a mixed message to the world.
The second purpose of that day is to be a day of rest. The word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word ?Sabbat' or rest. In Mark 2:27 it says this, "And Jesus said to them, the Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath". So many times we get religious. How many know we need to get with God and we also need some rest? The Lords' day is to be a day of rest not work. The idea means to come to a stop, to desist. The word means an intermission, to take a break. Our mind, our emotion, our body all need a change of pace. I want you to hear this, God did not rest on the seventh day because he was tired, He is God. He stopped for a change of pace so that he could enjoy all that he had created.
I want to encourage you Christian, there needs to be a day where you stop and enjoy all that God has given. Americans are living on burnout, they need more sleep. The truth is if you ask any man in America, as soon as they sit down in their chair and put their chair back they are asleep. Americans are great hard workers, we are innovators and some of you guys the reason you're snoring so bad and driving your wife crazy is because you don't stop. The sabbath helps us to avoid burnout, it restores our strength, it replenishes our energy, it helps us to maintain our joy. Listen, If you are cranky all the time and you are hard to get along with, one of the reasons is that you're not stopping. When God responds, he's not a cranky God, he's rested. I'm just as guilty of this as anyone else. I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do when I go home from here today. I've got some pork chops and I'm going to grill them up and have some broccoli because we need something good to eat. Then after I'm full I'm going to take a nap. Listen to me, take a Sabbath, the ladies too. We've got a dishwasher, if you can afford one get one, it's a great investment. Then we're going to sit down, the kids are going to sit down. That doesn't mean you can't play, I'm probably going to walk the beach today. Listen, you can make all kinds of goofy rules. You don't have to sit still and be a couch potato all day. Go take your boat out after you've worshiped the Lord.
