Matthew 5:17, Jesus said this, "Do not think that I came to destroy the law and the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill".

Lord, we thank you for your word and Jesus we thank you that you came to complete that which the Father started. This morning may we decrease and may you increase and may your word take deep root in our hearts. Amen

In 1988 someone wrote a book entitled, "Everything I needed to know I learned in kindergarten". That's true because alot of what we started to learn in the basics of life, the decency of how we treat others and the basics of the ten commandments we really started to learn at a very early age. The truth is that we're also hard wired by God to know the difference between right and wrong, to know what pleases Him, to know what he expects and to understand what brings him pleasure. How many of you understand that we have a conscience? The truth is that whenever we step out of the will of God there is something inside of us that begins to speak, he's called the Holy Spirit. He begins to let us know when we're in his will and when we're not.

I want you to know that God always finishes what he starts. When God gave us the ten commandments at the very beginning he knew that man on his own would never be able to fulfill them so he sent us his son, Jesus, who by his grace came to finish what God started in us. The Bible says that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. That means that when God gave us these ten commands and wrote them down with his very finger, commands that have never changed, he sent his son Jesus to finish what God had started. I want you to hear me, God never changes. 

As we go through these last six commands and remember the reason we're studying this is because we know that God has given us his will so that we can know it, live it and walk in it. God's will doesn't change, God never changes. The world today is full of mavericks, full of rule breakers, full of people who believe that they are the exception to every rule. But I want you to hear me today, God has never changed his standard and he won't. 

The ten commands sum up God's moral law and will for mankind. All these ten commandments can be summed up in this, "Love God and love people". It's that simple. I want you to listen to me church, obeying God is a simple thing to understand. So many people say, "Well I don't understand it, it confuses me". How many of you believe that God has made it pretty plain? It's that simple, he doesn't complicate things, he never has and he never will. Obeying the ten commandments is not about just doing external work because there is something that is a list of rules of do's and dont's. To do them and obey them well requires a proper heart and attitude that then becomes reflected in our outward living. Only Jesus can transform a person so that they not only do what he says because he said it but that they do it out of a heart that is so in love with him and so enraptured by him that it becomes an extension of who they are by their simple obedience.

Loving God and loving people are the two great commands that he gives us. In Matthew 22:40 it says, "On these two commands hang all the law and the prophets, loving God and loving people'. Everything hangs on these two things. Today we're going to look at the second part. Last week we looked at our responsibility to God and how we respond to him. Now we're going to see how God's will interacts and how we respond and interact with others. 

Commandment number 5, turn with me to Exodus 20:12. It starts with one of the greatest commands I believe that this generation could ever hear, "Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God has given you". A while back I was watching Bill Cosby. He talked about how he would talk to his children, "Listen, you will obey me and listen to me. I brought you into this world and I can take you out and after I do I'll make another one that looks just like you". I love that, I think that's Good Parenting 101. This verse is important to God and it is the first command that we look at with a promise. 

In Ephesians 6:1-3 Paul preaches this to that generation and I believe that when Paul preached it to that generation, this generation needs to hear it too. People say that this generation is a little bit more wild then all the previous generations. Every generation before us has said the same thing about the kids that are coming up behind them. I believe that God has some great things for this generation. I have great hope for our teenagers and I believe that if they will serve God they will do things that will just absolutely astound us and amaze us. Paul preached this to the generation that was behind him and said, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right". Every Junior Higher and every Senior Higher that is in this room, I want you to hear me, this is the command of God, "Obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth". I think this is something that every parent needs to teach their child. I believe that this is one of the key commandments that If our generation will listen to they will find the blessing that is in it. It's in the context of family that respect and honor is learned and taught. 

Mom and dad, it is important, if you will expect your teenager to honor and respect you then you must teach them to do that when they are very little. We dedicated Harold Washburn III today, train him to respect. It's important that we do that because if our kids will respect us they will respect others and they will go on in life to do great things as they learn to put others before them and to treat others with the dignity that each of us deserves. 

To honor our parents mean to treat them with kindness, to obey them and as we get older and as they get older, to help them even with material support. I think that it's awesome when I hear about an athlete as they make it after they came out of the projects and said, "One of the first things I'm going to do is make sure I take care of my parents because even though we may not have had much, they took care of us when we were young". I want you to hear me again that it is important to know that it is the responsibility of the parent to care for and nurture and love their children. 

I want to speak this right here so that we all hear it, parents who betray the trust of their children through neglect, abuse or reckless living have done a wicked thing. I want to tell you parent, raise your child for Jesus, love them and care for them. There is no greater responsibility that God has given a man or a woman than the privilege to raise a child. Dad, I don't care if you make a million dollars a year, if your child doesn't know how much you care for them and if they don't know how much you will provide for them, if they don't know how to live for Christ, then you have failed as a man. I don't care if you're the weathiest man in the world. 

Mom, there is no greater privilege. Today the world is filled with feminists who will say that raising a child is secondary and a mom should be able to do more things than just be at home. I believe you can be anything you want, you can be the greatest career woman in the world, God has great plans for you but I want to tell you that there is no higher calling than to be called a Mom. It's the truth, there's no greater calling in all the world. 

The Old Testament was very clear that if a child were to curse their mom or to hit a parent that they could even be put to death. I want to tell you that I'm not advocating that we wipe out half the children in America right now but I am telling you that it's true about this generation. There was a time when a child would never even think to turn and curse an adult, a time when a child would never even think to raise their hand to an elder. I want you to hear me, child, whether you are a young person or whether you are 30 or 40 yrs old and right now you have a Mom or Dad that's aggravating your absolute last nerve, you are still to honor them and respect them. I want you to notice that there is not a time limit on this verse to honor your parents. As long as our parents are still living we have a responsibility to them to love them and to care for them. They cared for us in our youth. 

With growing older comes experience and wisdom and perspective and I know that I've said this here before but I want to say this again, our generation would do well to listen to the generations ahead of us because they have lived through many things. They have trusted God through many things, they have sought the Lord on many occasions and I want to tell you in a society that today worships at the fountain of youth, we need to understand that youth doesn't know everything and doesn't have all the answers. If young people will trust those who have gone before them and listen to their wisdom and their help, they will be better off for it. 

We also need to care, an elderly parent who is no longer able to care for themselves is not an inconvenience. They are precious and it is up to the younger generations that as our family begins to grow older that we ensure that their last days truly are golden years and that happens in the context of family. Honor your father and your mother. I want you to speak this to every younger generation that if you will take care of your parents as they get older, your children will take care of you. How many know you reap what you sow? 

God forbid, none of us ever wants to go to a nursing home, none of us wants to find the place where we begin to slow down but the truth is this, each season of life is precious, each season that God would have us go through as we live through this world is another chance for us to glorify God no matter what season we are in. God says, "Honor you father and your mother" and I believe that If we will do that then this nation will see far greater things than we have ever seen before. 

The sixth commandment says this, "You shall not murder". Another version says, "Thou shall not kill". But the truth is the sixth commandment speaks of not taking a human life. We are not to kill, premeditated or otherwise. I want you to understand the reason why this verse holds so much weight today as it has in times past. On the news last night, over this weekend there has already been 3 shootings in the Palm Beach area. Life is sacred. This is not an injunction against war, it is not an injunction against self defense and it is not an injunction against capital punishment. As a matter of fact when you get into the word of God you will find out that the word of God does say that there is a reason to defend yourself, there is a reason for capital punishment and there is a reason for war. As a matter of fact the Bible tells us that there is a time for war. 

Those who think that religion and politics should not mix will have a problem with the ten commandments. As long as man refuses to bow down to God, man will be forced to enforce morality in one way or another and the question and the choice will be, who's morality will we enforce? Will we use God's standards or not? The death penalty, abortion, are not political issues, they are moral issues that man has chosen to debate. I want you to hear me, even if the government says it's ok, even if there is a law that is made that says it's ok to kill another human, abortion is murder even when the government says it is legal. Everyone who has an abortion, everyone who performs an abortion is a murderer and they will be held accountable for it before God. I know that is not popular to say and as your Pastor I am not standing here to preach a political stance. I am here to preach the word of God which is pure and true and as far as I am concerned and as far as God is concerned, that is the law that we should uphold in our nation.

The Bible gives us many reasons for the death penalty, things like murder, rape and maiming are among them. The death penalty is not callous, it is justice. It protects many and punishes the guilty. But the sixth commandment is not about this and I didn't come here to be political with you. I know that what I said will stir alot of people up, people will say, "Pastor, in the pulpit lets just keep it calm, kep it easy". I want to tell you that in America it is time that the word of God is preached and that it is preached straight. 

Murder does not have to be a physical act. Murder can also be done with the heart and with the mind. The Bible says that hate is murder. I want you to hear me, God's law moves beyond the simple injunction of doing the act, it also speaks to the very intent of someone's heart. If the only thing that keeps you from killing someone is fear of punishment then the inward man is not right with God. 

Matthew 5:21-22 talks about this, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgement. But I say to you (This is Jesus talking) that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement and whoever says to his brother ?Raca' will be in danger of the council but whoever says ?you fool' shall be in danger of hellfire". 

1^st John 3:15 says, "For whoever hates his brother is a muderer and you know no murderer has eternal life abiding in him". It is possible to hate someone and wish they were dead and the Bible says that is just as deadly and just as wrong as if you actually committed the act.

I want to touch on something here and it struck me powerfully because in Matthew 5:22 it says, "But I say to you whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement". Without a cause, when I read the NIV version it leaves that out. I also noticed when I began to read in the Amplified Bible which really begins to expound on what that word says talks about the continual hating of somebody. Every commentary that I went to would not touch that with a ten foot pole. As a matter of fact some versions of the Bible like the NIV have even left that out. 

Listen, how many know even when you're doing a translation you don't leave out things of the word of God? That's why you have to be careful with what you read and with what version you use. I like the NIV, I use it, but study to show yourself approved a workman unto God. "Whoever hates without a cause". There are those of us who have had people do serious things to us. Family members who have been hurt, rape that has been done, those that have hurt other people, killed, stolen from, violated. 

I want you to hear me, "Thou shall not kill". When you read through this portion of scripture what it does leave room for is the fact that things happen to us in life and God knows when those hard things happen that there will be a process of forgiveness that you and I will have to work through. Some of us in this room have known people that we hate. I have shared with you on a number of occasions about the man who hurt our family, abused my mother and hurt her terribly. For years I carried that hate in my heart. How many know I had a reason to hate that man? As a matter of fact for years, if you go back to the old testament law it would have been justified but it was still wrong because our law prohibits it, I would have killed that man if I had run into him. From the age of 14 to about 20, in my heart I had not dealt with God with those issues and I promise you if I had seen that person I would not be a pastor today, I would be preaching in jail, I'd have a prison ministry. 

Some of you have had reason to really hate, some of you have a justified reason of why things have gone on in your life and there is a point when God will deal with that hate and you must forgive to be truly obedient. Listen, Jesus died for you, he gave his life for you. He fulfilled the law not only for you but for that person and I want you to hear me, today if you have had something done in your life that has been horrible and you are filled with hate and filled with malice and anger, God understands it but there will come a time when forgiveness must happen. 

I want to encourage you, the sooner that you forgive the sooner you can live because the truth is when that unforgiveness stirs up not only do you wish that person was dead but you have stayed in that spot and you are walking around with that death inside of you. Listen, I want to give you good news, Jesus died so that you can be free of that hurt, free from that pain and if you will allow him to work in you and through you today you will know the healing of God and you will live again. 

The Bible also says that life and death are in the power of the tongue. Gossip and slander ruin reputations and lives. There are reasons why they call it character assassination. There are many injunctions against people taking a gun and shooting but there are no laws against people picking up a telephone and talking. Some people are so good at picking up the phone and before you put it down, the person that you were talking about wishes that they were a living dead man, they wish they could crawl into a hole and die. I want to tell you we must be careful because you can kill somebody and they have to walk around and live with that death because people have said things about them. What we say can destroy people, this is emotional murder and this is part of this command. 

I want to encourage you here at Harvest Community Church, I want us to be a church, I believe God wants us to be a church where people can come and live again. My prayer is that people with ruined reputations where everyone else has turned their back on them even if it has been for a good reason that this could be a place where they could come and be healed and live again. How many of you believe that Jesus came to bring new life and as Christians we should be part of promoting that life in people? 

Commandment number 7, Exodus 20:14, "You shall not commit adultery". Adultery has to do with any sexual activity that is outside of the man/woman marriage relationship. Today, I want you to hear me, pre-marital sex is wrong. It is not of God, it is not right. This verse on adultery covers all areas of sexual sin. Homosexual sin is wrong, God's standard of morality has never changed even though God's standard of morality seems to be changing more and more and the norm is towards this area. God's word never changes. 

There is a God given sacredness about a husband and wife showing up on their wedding night and offering themselves to each other in the beauty of an unspotted life that has not been marred by sharing themselves with anyone else and that is God's standard. The purity of two virgins consumating a relationship is not simply a physical union but a spiritual joining as the two become one. The truth is, this command could be a whole sermon simply because of the amount of times it is addressed in the word of God. Because of our culture, this command is disregarded as out of date and out of touch but I want you to hear this that God's standard doesn't change even if no one else in the whole world agreed with it. His word is still true. 

Homosexuality is pervasive today. As a matter of fact somehow I ran across a song that I can't even believe is out there, it's called "I kissed a girl and I liked it" sung by a girl. It's on the radio today and it promotes this among our young people. Parents, guard what your children listen to, guard what comes into your home, watch what comes on your television.

This may be my opinion but since I'm in the pulpit I can preach it, I believe that any family that allows a child to have a television in their room is very foolish. There's probably lots of you in here today and my prayer is that you will take that tv out of your kids room. Listen, at least if they're going to see something, let them get caught in the living room. Take the computer out of their room and put it in the living room or the dining room, in an area where everyone can see because if you won't stand up to teach your child somebody else will teach them what is right or wrong. There must be a standard. 

The issue of adultery is faithfulness. How many of you know God is faithful? Adultery is all about unfaithfulness, physical, emotional and mental. Marriage is a symbol of our relationship to God. More and more, God shows me this as we join a husband and wife together in marriage. Jesus calls us his bride, he's our groom. Any time we step away from the word of God we are in spiritual adultery and that is why God has given us a great physical sign that a man and woman could be faithful for years upon years, time upon time. The truth is there are other people who will be attracted to you, there will be other people that you are attracted to but you made a commitment, you made a covenant, you took a vow that said "To you alone I will be faithful". When Jesus was on the cross he said this to us, "To you and you alone will I be faithful". That is the example. 

Our culture glorifies adultery and I don't care if you are a desperate housewife, it is not romantic, it is a sin. We don't need more sex in the city, we need more godliness at home and that is what God wants. I Came out of a movie the other day and as I was walking down the hall I saw lines of women waiting to see the movie "Sex and the city". It is not romantic, it is sin and may God help us if we buy into those lies. Husband, you say, "My wife has been nagging me and she's put on a few pounds". Husband, I want you to go look in the mirror, I want you to see what you've become. The truth is if you don't think your wife looks good it's your fault, you did it to her. You gave her the gray hair. Lady, if you think your husband is looking a little bit balder and maybe put on a few pounds , thank God you both are able to bring home a paycheck and walk into Publix and go home and eat some good food and if you don't like the way either of you look, go to the Gym and get skinny together. 

Proverbs 6:32-33 says this, "Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding, he who does so destroys his own soul. Wounds and dishonor he will get and his reproach will not be wiped away". Adultery can be forgiven and a marriage can be healed but I want you to read what that says, "But the reproach will never be wiped away". The truth is this, all you have to do is find a man or woman that has committed adultery and their life has been healed and they've been able to move on but they will still carry that with them. Hear me, it doesn't go away. There will always be consequences and your marriage will never be the same. Can God heal it? yes, but don't do it. 

The physical act of unfaithfulness is sin but the Bible also says that the mental act of unfaithfulness is sin. Matthew 25:27-28 says, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, do not commit adultery but I say to you whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery wth her in his heart". Church, listen to me, pornography is adultery, that's what the word of God says. I want you to hear this, eye candy will rot the soul. Candy will rot your teeth, eye candy will rot your soul. 

The next few commandments we'll move through very quickly this morning. Command number 8, "You shall not steal". I think that's pretty simple to understand, if it's not yours don't take it. Stealing is simply taking something that you haven't earned yourself. I want to tell you that the law of God does not differentiate between a paper clip or a million dollars. The devil came "to steal, to kill and to destroy" so we should not.

In America, we primarily steal out of greed not need. We steal because there's something we want and we can't have it. Many people steal in other countries because they have a need. I was talking with a lady this week and she said, "In my country where I'm from, if you don't steal then you don't eat". When I first moved to Phoenix, Arizona I couldn't understand why things were getting stolen all the time, It was in the culture. Somebody even broke into my car and stole my Bible and my Christian CD's. I guess they needed it, God bless them. It was used and well marked, they were going to get some good sermons out of it. 

I want you to think about this for a minute, there are some people who have stolen other life because they had a need and when they give their life to Jesus their whole life changes. Because now, obedience to the Lord means that their faith will affect their everyday living and that's awesome. Life will change because now they must trust God. I'm praying that God will use our church to go to other countries, that God will raise us up and we'll go on missions trips. How many believe that we're going to effect nations for the Lord? Not just sending people to them but we ourselves. I want you to hear me, as we preach the word of God, God has brought nations to us. As you witness, understand, just because you have everything that you need and really don't need to steal, there are some that steal as a way of life just so they can survive. 

Sometimes you have a hard time even trusting God because you want him to take you to the next level in a car.  These people just want to eat, that's faith when they give their life to Jesus. The Bible says, "Don't worry about what you will eat, what you will drink, what you will wear or where you will live, your God knows that you need these things". 

I want you to hear me, to charge your credit card beyond your ability to pay is stealing. To get into a house that is more than you can afford and to have to leave it for the bank is stealing. This is happening all around our nation because people have gotten the things from greed. I'm sure there is probably someone in this room that is going through that, I want you to listen to me, follow and trust God. Obey his word. If you have found yourself in that situation, begin to ask him how you can make it right. Your life will be a testimony to those bankers and those creditors, that you are going to make it right for Jesus. How many know that as believers it is our business to live right for Jesus. 

Commandment number 9, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor". Summed up it says, "Thou shall not lie". The Bible says that satan is a liar. As a matter of fact the only way satan speaks is in lies. Some people speak english, some people speak spanish, some people speak french but the language of the devil is lies. That's his language and every time we tell a lie we are speaking his language. The issue of this verse is truth and integrity. Revelations 21:8 says, "All liars have their place in the lake of fire". I want to tell you, every exaggeration, every half truth, with details left out is a lie. There are no little lies and no white lies. Jesus is the truth and as his people we should tell the truth and speak the truth at every turn. 

One man was going into Russia when he wasn't allowed to bring in Bibles. They asked him if he had anything to declare when he was coming in. Wisdom spoke and he said, "I have nothing to declare". The man said, "What's in the suitcases?" God struck him right there and said, "Your suitcase is full of Bibles and if you tell him nothing is in there you're a liar". The man said, "But God, if I tell him that Bibles are in that suitcase and I'm smuggling them into Russia then I'm going to go to jail". God said, "Yes, but if you don't tell them what's in that suitcase and they open it and you've lied to them". So he looked at that man in the eye and said, "Yes sir, I've got a suitcase full of Bibles". The man couldn't believe it, he opened his suitcase and sure enough he found all these Bibles the man was bringing in. He closed it up and said, "You are the first Christian that didn't lie to me. I believe your witness that God is real. Now don't tell anybody, take your Bibles and go around this way and go through because if they find out then I'm going to jail". On his way out, he said, "Tell me about this Jesus". That missionary was able to lead him to the Lord because he told the truth. Listen, either we trust God or we don't. He is the way, the truth and the life". 

Lastly, Commandment number 10 is this, and I want to read this to you because it's very important, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house nor covet your neighbor's wife nor his maleservant nor his female servant, not his ox nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's. You shall not covet". 

Coveting deals with contentment and thankfulness. I believe this is one of the greatest things that Americans could ever hear because with all the wealth and all the blessings that we have, somebody else always seem to have a little bit else that we could want. Many times, the more that someone else has causes us to somehow feel that God has ripped us off. 

It is ok to like something, it is ok to want something. Yesterday I went over to the car show at Abacoa and it was great. They had some great cars there and they had an awesome Shelby, not like the new Shelbies that they're trying to make look like the old ones. The old ones are really the real thing. Now it's ok for me to want one of those but it's another thing for me to walk around and make that thing my whole life thinking I've got to have it because someone else has it, I've got to do better and have more and be more. The Bible says to be content with such things as you have.

Hebrews 13:12 says, "Let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with such things as you have".