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Transcript

Well, good afternoon, brethren. It’s great to see all of you as usual.

Earlier this month in the month of November, the state of Louisiana struck down a new law requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in all public schools. How many remember seeing that? Seeing that news about that law being struck down? Well, the law was originally proposed in June of this year, and it required public schools to display the Ten Commandments by January of next year. So by twenty-twenty-five, all public schools in the state of Louisiana would’ve been required to post the Ten Commandments where all the students could see them.

Now, the judge that struck down the law was quoted as saying that the overtly religious purpose of this law is clear and cannot stand under the First Amendment. Now, there were plenty of advocates in the state, one being the Louisiana’s governor. The governor argued that the Ten Commandments are not solely religious. They’re not just a set of religious rules. And he said that they have historical significance and that they promote moral values among students.

So, from his perspective, it was something that would’ve helped students, and it would’ve been helpful for students, teachers, staff, everyone, parents, when they’re in the schools, at the schools, it would’ve been helpful for everyone to see those laws listed. Louisiana’s Attorney General agreed with the governor and plans to actually appeal that decision. So they’re going to fight the decision and fight the fact that this judge struck down the law. Now, as I mentioned, the judge said that the law was a violation of the First Amendment’s establishment clause.

And you often hear that brought up whenever there are any religious decisions that have to be made, any sort of religious observances or ordinances that are in the public realm or in the government realm. And the judge, along with saying that he felt that the law violated the establishment clause. He also mentioned that teaching should be the main focus of the schools. He felt that requiring students to view, to simply view the religious texts daily infringed on their religious freedom. So not necessarily requiring them to look at the rules, the Ten Commandments were simply just going to be posted, but he felt that subjecting them to those rules on a daily basis infringed on their religious freedoms.

Now, the ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union, they of course are quick to pounce or jump on these sorts of rulings. They agreed with the judge saying that the law is a clear violation of the First Amendment’s establishment clause. And imposes, they actually went as far as saying that, posting those laws and the schools, simply posting them so people can see them, so the children can see them, imposed religious beliefs on the students. And the ACLU wasn’t alone. Sadly, families and groups from several faiths also argued that teaching religion belongs in the home.

It’s not something that should be done in public, it should be done in the home, it should be done in churches, but it should not be done in public schools. As I read that and as I went through it, and perhaps even as you heard it, it’s like people have something against the Ten Commandments. What could be so wrong with the Ten Commandments? What’s so wrong with principles like worshiping God or taking a day of rest to reflect on the week that just passed? Or what’s wrong with honoring your parents or not lying or stealing, or killing people?

What could be so wrong with a set of just ten beliefs? Beliefs that the judge or the governor originally said he believed it would have a good impact on students, a good impact on staff, a good impact on those that read them? What makes people oppose such basic values? Now, brethren, all of us know, we all know that the Ten Commandments are not just a set of rules. We all know, we all understand that they are very, very important. That those ten laws, the Ten Commandments, they form the foundation of something that is far greater.

Far greater even than perhaps the governor, the attorney general, all those who agreed with the law being posted. Perhaps something far greater than even they realize. Today, brethren, we’re going to see how the Ten Commandments are key to unlocking a greater understanding of what God is doing, what he wants to do, what he desires for all of mankind. Now we all know, as I mentioned, we all know that we need to keep the Ten Commandments. Something that’s very fundamental to being a Christian. It’s something that, depending on how you came into the church, that may have been something that was surprising to you. Was certainly surprising to me. I personally wasn’t... If someone had asked me, I wouldn’t have been opposed to the Ten Commandments before coming into the church.

Now, are you opposed to the Ten Commandments? I don’t picture myself saying yes, I’m opposed to them. But I didn’t understand the significance of them and I didn’t understand that they are still in effect. So there’s a difference between being indifferent to the Ten Commandments and understanding that they still are in effect, that God still expects us to keep them. There’s a difference between the two, and I certainly was more on the indifferent side. Nice set of rules, I guess, if you ask me about it; but not understanding that God requires us to keep them.

Now we’re going to... We’re approaching the holidays season and perhaps you saw in a recent announcement bulletin, we had a Q&A, and every year we do our best to try to prepare brethren for the onslaught, perhaps, of what they may face when they go see family. Certainly nothing wrong with spending time with family at any time of year, but we tend to do so around the holidays. People have time off work, could travel, get together for certain worldly religious traditions.

We don’t keep any of those, of course, but it’s an opportunity for us to spend time with family and we’re approaching that time of year. Well, imagine one of your family members or maybe an acquaintance or a friend, or someone you may see here in the coming days, coming weeks, or maybe even on into the future. Imagine them asking you, why do you take the commands so seriously? Why do you make such a big deal out of the Ten Commandments? I see you living the way that you live. You are so different than what you used to be like.

Your attitudes are different. You do different things. You’ve changed your life. You’re so much different than you used to be. And I know a big part of that, and you’ve said over the years that you strive to obey God and keep the commandments. Why do you take the commandments so seriously? Would you be ready to answer that question? Would you be ready to answer the question from that family member? Turn to First Peter chapter three. First Peter chapter three. And go to a classic verse here that sets up this point. First Peter chapter three.

We’ll read verse fifteen, First Peter three, fifteen. “But sanctify the Lord God in your heart.” So separate God in your hearts. Have a perspective, a certain perspective of God, and have that perspective and understanding of God at a deep heartfelt level. It’s saying, “And be ready to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” God expects us, this is an expectation, God expects us to have an answer when people ask why we believe what we believe. Again, it’s an expectation, brethren.

God says to be ready. You know what it is to be ready for something? It’s you don’t necessarily know it’s coming. You know it’s coming, but you don’t maybe know when it’s coming. But guess what? You’re ready. That’s what God is saying here. Be ready. Now, that can be hard. It can be hard to be ready when people ask you, when people ask us, why do we believe what we believe. We know all the verses. We know all the reasons. We just want to say, well, just because, or it’s the right thing to do. And that’s true. But it could be hard. All those verses and concepts are get all jumbled in our heads.

We get tongue-tied. We don’t know exactly what to say. We want to say it perfectly, we don’t want to say the wrong things. We don’t want to say too much, we don’t want to say too little. It could be a challenge to be ready when people ask us what we believe, and especially think about something seemingly so basic as why do we take God’s commands so seriously. But brethren, it doesn’t have to be hard. It doesn’t have to be difficult, or at least doesn’t have to be as difficult. God would not ask us to do something that can’t be done. Why would he say, “Be ready with an answer?”

Why would he ask us, Expect us, as I use that term, expect us to have an answer if we can’t do it, if it can’t be done? God wouldn’t expect that of us. So it certainly is possible to be ready with an answer. Be ready with not only an answer to why we keep the commandments, why they’re so important to us, but really answers to any doctrine. All of God’s truths. A part of being ready is knowing your Bible, is knowing the scriptures, being familiar with the scriptures. The church’s literature goes a long way, brethren, to helping us be ready in handling the scriptures.

Imagine how difficult or how challenging it would be to simply pick up the Bible and as a lay person, or maybe someone newer to the church, or even someone who’s been in the church for a while, but only maybe having had the Bible, imagine how difficult it could be to discern all of the verses, to put all of the verses together to elaborate on the concepts, to try to understand scriptures that are written here a little, there a little. That’s the wonderful thing about the literature. This entire message that I’m giving you today. It’s based on the Ten Commandments book.

Study the book. That’s all I did. That’s all I did in preparing this message. That’s study the book. If it’s available to me, it’s available to you. It’s broken out in chapters, it’s subheads, there’s bold type, verses are listed. Everything is there to prepare you just like it prepared me with this message. Everything is there to prepare you, to be able to answer questions that come at you, particularly questions about this subject. So study the book, study it along with an open Bible. Know the book. Well, one of my goals is to help you understand the basics of the Ten Commandments and why we keep them.

I want you to be ready. I want to help you be ready. But I also want to do you a favor. I want to do you another favor. Turn to Romans chapter ten. Romans chapter ten. I want to help you out. It’s, part of my job as a minister is to help you. Romans chapter ten verse seventeen. Romans ten, seventeen. It says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Just hearing this message, not just listening, but actually hearing it, brethren, at a deeper level, hearing this message, simply hearing it will build your faith. A part of my task, a part of my job is to build your faith.

We want to take the next hour or so. I want to take the next hour or so with God’s help to build your faith on this matter. To build your faith. Yes, you all know to keep the Ten Commandments. You all know to do that. We all know to do that. But I’m going to take this opportunity to build your faith in the matter, to help you understand it at a deeper level. Why do I keep the Ten Commandments? Why is it important? Why is it something that God wants me to do? Brethren, we know something that that judge in Louisiana, the ACLU, those families from different religions that got together, we know something that they don’t know.

Just the fact that we understand the importance of the Ten Commandments is a lot. But today, I want to help us understand them at a Deeper, more significant level. So let’s begin. We’re going to start, let’s actually go to the Ten Commandments. Let’s read the commandments. Go to Exodus twenty. Let’s go to the Ten Commandments where they’re listed. They’re also listed in Deuteronomy five, but we’re going to go to Exodus twenty. Now, I told you to go to Exodus twenty and it is tempting to just jump right into the commandments and start reading them.

But we miss a lot if we just go right to the commands, if we just jump right in and start reading them. It’s best or better to appreciate the circumstances by which the commands were given. Now in Exodus nineteen, it’s just one chapter prior, in Exodus nineteen, we see that God the Father descended on Mount Sinai and there was this elaborate display. Let’s go to Exodus nineteen. I know you’re right there in twenty, but let’s go to nineteen and let’s pick it up in verse eighteen. Exodus nineteen, eighteen, it says, “And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire.”

So this is the presence of God. God is present on earth. He’s present on Mount Sinai. He’s not in heaven on his throne. He’s actually on Mount Sinai. “And the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace,” the verse continues, “and the whole Mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long,” so there was a trumpet blast, “and waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him by a voice.” Okay, so God’s voice. “And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai,” reiterating God’s presence, “and on the top of the mount, and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount, and Moses went up.”

So imagine this scene, you’re there. You’re one of the people that are there. You’re seeing smoke, you’re seeing flames. The ground underneath your feet is shaking. There’s all sorts of loud noises. There’s a trumpet blast, a blast that gets louder and louder. It’s quite a scene. It’s quite a scene. Brethren, that is the scene. That is what was going on when the Ten Commandments were given. Talk about significant. There could be no doubt, as we’re going to read, there could be no doubt as to the origin of those commandments. God was present, just in case you thought it was a rumor that he was present.

The ground was shaking. There was smoke, there was fire, there was a trumpet blast. They got louder and louder. God was present. That is the scene. Those are the circumstances under which the commandments were delivered. Chapter twenty. Let’s begin at the beginning of the chapter. We’ll read the commandments, “And the Lord spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” So God is introducing himself to these recently freed slaves. Number one, “You shall have no Gods before me. You shall not make you any graven image...”

This is the second commandment. “...or 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 yourself down to them nor serve them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me,” and do what? “keep my commandments.” That’s all the second commandment. Seven, verse seven, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. For the Lord would not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.”

Fourth commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” This is a longer commandment also. “Six days shall you labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall not do any work, you nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant or your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates. For in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh, the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”

The fifth commandment, “Honor your father and mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you.” Number six, “You shall not kill.” Next, “You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” That’s the prohibition against lying. And finally, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” Anything that does not belong to you.

Brethren, it’s helpful to read, to occasionally read the commandments in detail just like what I just did. It’s helpful to go back through them. We all know them. But God took the time to write those, to pass along those commandments with all their detail. It’s helpful to go back through them occasionally. Those ten laws represent divine authority, divine justice, divine respect, divine accountability. Those ten laws have influenced societies and legal systems throughout history. That’s why it’s still rather surprising that some people choose to reject them.

Now, today’s message isn’t... my goal isn’t to go through each of the commandments. I could do that and I would probably take several sermons. You could take one commandment and do an entire sermon around it. My goal isn’t to examine or dig deeply into each of the commandments. Instead, my goal is for you to see and recognize the Ten Commandments as a set of laws, as an entire set of instructions or expectations from God to his people. Notice the structure of the commands. If you’ve been in God’s church for some time, you’ve heard this.

The first four commands focus on our relationship with God. God says to worship him only. He doesn’t want us to worship idols. He wants us to respect his name and not use his name in vain, and to keep what’s called the Sabbath of the Lord, if you notice that when I read it. It’s God’s Sabbath. So those first four commands focus on our relationship with God. That leaves six commands. And what do they do? Those commands focus on our relationships with others, with other people. So you have God and you have man covered by those commandments.

Those six talk about honoring your parents. Those are people. Your parents are people. Teens, you may not think that, but we’re people. But not killing others, not committing adultery or cheating on your spouse, or stealing from others, or lying and bearing false witness, or coveting what does not belong to you. All those, if we don’t follow those six, those violate our relationships with people. So you have God and you have man who are covered by the Ten Commandments. Jesus summarized the commandments in a remarkable way. Go to Mark chapter twelve.

Mark chapter twelve. Jesus summarized the commandments in an interesting way. Mark twelve, let’s pick it up in verse twenty-eight. Mark twelve, twenty-eight. “One of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together and perceiving that he had answered them well,” so he just happened upon a group. Christ is in the group and they’re having a discussion and he’s recognizing, okay, Christ is giving answers, good answers here. So I have this question. This is the Scribe thinking, I have a question that I want to ask. This man is answering the questions very well.

So this is something that’s been on my mind. This is something that has been bothering me and I want to know the answer. So he asked Christ, “Which is the first commandment of all?” So we have these Ten Commandments. Which one, which commandment is the most important commandment? It had been bugging him. He wanted to know the answer. It’s a good question, turns out. So the man is directly asking, asking Christ directly about the Ten Commandments, verse twenty-nine. “And Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.”

So we know he’s talking about the Ten Commandments. “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.” He continues. “And the second is like, namely this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” So the man asked which is the first commandment of all and Christ answered him and gave him a bonus. There’s two, love God, love man. Verse thirty-two, “And the scribe said unto him, well, master, you have said the truth, for there is one God and there is none other but he.

And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the soul and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” The man got it. He got it. He understood what Christ was saying. He got the point. And what did Christ say as a result? What was his response? “And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly,” that he answered correctly, that he was able to get the point, “Jesus said unto him, you are not far from the kingdom of God.” That would be something to hear from Jesus Christ.

You are not far from the kingdom of God. Understanding, brethren, understanding these ten laws, these ten laws that can be broken out into loving God and loving neighbor, gets us closer to the kingdom of God. Just like that scribe. Understanding, recognizing the significance of these ten laws gets each of us closer to the kingdom of God. In fact, in fact, the entire Bible hangs on these ten laws. Matthew twenty-two. Matthew twenty-two. We just read how understanding the Ten Commandments gets us closer to the kingdom of God, something that I’m all about.

I’m sure you are too. But the entire Bible hangs on these ten laws. Matthew twenty-two, we’re picking up in verse thirty-five. Matthew twenty-two, thirty-five, “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question.” Now we see in verse thirty-four, this is a Pharisee. Okay, so prior was a scribe. Perhaps it was the Sadducee that it says there they were put to silence. But this is a Pharisee and happened to be a lawyer. And he also had a question for Jesus Christ, but he was tempting him as verse thirty-five says, and saying, “Master which is the great commandment in the law?”

So the same question but he was coming at it to tempt Christ. He was not pure in his motive. “Jesus said unto him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The same answer. Same answer he gave that scribe. Verse forty, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” The entire Bible... the Bible is made up of law and prophets, that’s how it’s broken out.

The entire Bible hangs on the Ten Commandments. Can we recognize what this is saying? The Bible with all its history, its doctrines, its prophecies hang on these ten laws. If we reject the Ten Commandments, brethren, we reject the plan of God. It’s plain. Brethren, these are the kinds of things that we can tell family members and friends when they ask why we take the command so seriously. Now, you may not do it as vigorously as I am here behind the lectern. You may be a little more kind and a little more gentle, but the Ten Commandments represent the plan of God.

The entire Bible hangs that, the Bible uses that term, the entire Bible hangs on these commandments. Family member, friend, those Ten Commandments represent love for God and love for neighbor. What could be so wrong with that? That’s why I keep them. That’s why they’re so important to me. God himself was directly involved in passing along this law. We already saw it in Exodus. Let’s go to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter nine. Deuteronomy chapter nine, something that I think some of us have understood. Deuteronomy chapter nine, verse ten, “And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone,” and here’s the point, “written with the finger of God.”

God wrote those commandments Himself. He personally wrote them. “And on them was written according to all the words which the Lord spoke with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.” Remember that? We read about that. Unlike other biblical texts, the Bible is a holy book, it’s the word of God, it’s purified seven times, unlike other biblical laws and texts written by prophets and other men of God, God took the time to write the Ten Commandments himself. He wrote them. They were his laws. He passed them along.

You can write this down, to know the law is to know God, and to know God is to know His law. I’ll say it again, to know the law is to know God, to know God is to know the law. The Ten Commandments were not of human origin, brethren. If we reject the Ten Commandments, anyone wittingly or unwittingly rejecting the Ten Commandments is rejecting God himself. However, by accepting the Ten Commandments, we are accepting God himself. That’s why it’s so regrettable when we see and hear people reduce the Ten Commandments to being outdated or, oh, those are laws just for the Jews.

That’s a person who may be sincere but just doesn’t understand exactly what those very important laws represent. The Ten Commandments were in place well before they were introduced to Israel, which by the way, the Jews are a part of Israel. Oftentimes people will say the Jews and they mean Israel. But the Ten Commandments were in place well before God introduced them to the children of Israel. Guess that’s another opportunity, one of those opportunities to answer when someone asks you why you take the command so seriously.

Many mistakenly believe that the commandments were introduced to mankind in that account on Mount Sinai that we read. They believe, well, that’s where God introduced them, and he was introducing them to the children of Israel, so that’s who those laws were meant for. They weren’t meant for everyone else. Well, that’s not true. That’s not true. The commands were intended to guide all of humanity for thousands of years before the man named Israel was even born. Those laws were in place. Turn to Genesis four. Genesis chapter four.

Genesis chapter four. There are many, many accounts that prove the Ten Commandments were in place before Sinai. I don’t have the time to go through all of them. I’m going to go through a few. I’ll go through a few, and again, my goal is to build your faith and help you know the book in terms of this doctrine. I’ll go through a few and time permitting, I’ll give you a few to write down and study on your own. Genesis chapter four, God is talking to Cain. But Genesis four verse six. Genesis four, six, “And the Lord said unto Cain, why are you wroth?” Why are you angry?

“And why is your countenance falling? If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And unto you shall be his desire, and you shall rule over him.” God is warning Cain telling him, first of all, you need to control your emotions. I’ve heard about that recently, the danger of being caught up in emotions. Emotions are good, but you don’t want to be caught up in them. But control your emotions and avoid sin. What is sin? Sin is the transgression of the law. There had to be a law in place for him to transgress.

Cain broke the sixth commandment when he killed his brother. If there was no law in place prohibiting murder, how could God rightfully punish him? Oh, I can just end his life. I don’t like what he did, so I’m just going to kill him. There’s no law in place. No, there’s nothing saying I can’t do that. Well, clearly, there was. Cain also coveted Abel’s relationship with God. He was jealous of his relationship with God. He also dishonor his parents by killing his brother. Imagine how his parents felt when they got news that their son was a murderer, and killed his younger brother.

Another example, turn to Genesis twenty-six. Notice, we’re still in the Book of Genesis. It’s another proof that the law was in place prior to Mount Sinai. Genesis twenty-six. Remember, the law came later or was introduced to Israel later. Genesis twenty-six verse five, Genesis twenty-six, five, “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” The commandment, statutes and laws included the Ten Commandments. Abraham was Israel’s grandfather. Jacob became Israel. Abraham was his grandfather.

This was the report. That report is being said to Isaac, Israel’s father. But that report about the grandfather, about Abraham as being given before Jacob was even around, before Israel was even around. Abraham obeyed God’s commandments long before Sinai. Genesis thirty-nine. Or excuse me, Genesis thirty-five. Genesis thirty-five. We’re still in the book of Genesis. Genesis thirty-five. This is Jacob, the man that went on to become Israel, to be renamed Israel. Genesis thirty-five, two. “And Jacob said unto his household and all that were with him, put away the strange gods that are among you and be clean, and change your garments.

Let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make there an altar unto God,” the true God, “who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the day in which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods, which were in their hand,” those are idols, “and all their earrings which were in their ears. And Jacob hid them under the oak, which was by Shechem.” Jacob commanded his household to put away idols. Idol worship is a violation of the second commandment. Verse thirty-nine. Excuse me, chapter thirty-nine, Genesis thirty-nine.

I say yet again, we have not left the book of Genesis. It’s the book of beginnings. Genesis thirty-nine. This is one of Jacob or Israel’s offspring, Joseph. Genesis thirty-nine, verse seven. Genesis thirty-nine, seven. “And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and she said, lie with me.” She wanted to get in bed with Joseph. She wanted Joseph, Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph to get in bed with her and to be intimate with her. “But Joseph refused, and said unto his master’s wife, behold, my master wants not what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand.”

So first of all, it will be disrespectful to my master for us to do such a vile thing. Verse nine, “And there is none greater in this house than I, neither has he kept back any thing from me but you, because you are his wife.” They’re married. “How then can I do this great wickedness,” sleeping with you, another man’s wife, is great wickedness, “and sin against God?” This man knew that committing adultery violated one of God’s commands. It’s the seventh commandment, thou shall not commit adultery. The children of Israel are nowhere in sight.

They’re not even in Egypt yet. Joseph is still a slave. The Ten Commandments, obviously, were well-known before Sinai. A few more for you to write down. You can see Sabbath observance. This is before Sinai. We finally are here in this example in the book of Exodus, but it’s before the scene at Sinai. But the Israelites were told to gather manna for six days and rest on the seventh. God hadn’t given the laws on the tablets yet. He hadn’t spoken to Moses on Mount Sinai yet. In Genesis fifteen, interestingly, we see that the law applied to all nations.

The Amorites, God told Abraham of the Amorites that their sin is not yet full. That’s in Genesis fifteen, sixteen. Their sin is not yet full. Whenever you see sin, brethren, it’s a sign that the law had to be in existence. Otherwise, how would you know it’s sin? Of course we know that world conditions before the flood were obviously sinful. Obviously, laws were being broken in Genesis six, five. God described human wickedness as great. He said there was great wickedness, and things were being done, evil continually. God destroyed the entire planet through a flood, saved eight people.

How could he righteously do that if there were no commands in place for people to have been breaking, if there was no expectation of anything from God? How could God destroy the earth if there was no command against such things? Clearly there was. Clearly there was. The Ten Commandments were obviously, so very obviously in place before Mount Sinai. And brethren, so importantly, so importantly, the commandments are still in place today. They’re still in place today. They were in place well before Mount Sinai, and they have been in place ever since.

And that confuses people. That confuses people. The Ten Commandments are still in place? I don’t know if anyone would outright reject them, and say that they aren’t, but they don’t believe that God still holds people accountable to them. Many believe that the commandments were done away. We’ve all heard that term, the commandments were done away. And they cite passages or scriptures like Romans ten, four. Let’s go to Romans ten, four. Romans ten, chapter four. This is where, brethren, it helps to be a student of the scriptures. Ultimately, it helps to be guided by God and His spirit because that’s really how we understand how we can look at verses and understand them for what they mean. We can understand them for how God intended them and how can that be? Well, the same spirit, which is God, is that wrote the verses is in us. So it connects. We are able to understand it, but let’s go to Romans ten, verse four, or actually start at the beginning of the chapter, Romans ten, beginning of the chapter.

“Brethren, my heart’s desire in prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.” So God is talking about the Israelites, those born Israelites, “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” We can have zeal, but not have the knowledge, not have the proper understanding, the information that leads to understanding. “For they...” Still talking about Israel. “...being ignorant of God’s righteousness and go about it to establish their own righteousness...” Self-righteousness. “...have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”

That is important to understand the context of this verse that people cite to claim that the law was done away. “For Christ is the end...” I have that word end underlined in my Bible. “...is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes.” They say, “Look, Christ is the end of the law. The law was done away.” Don’t you understand that, Restored Church of God member, minister? Don’t you understand that? Perhaps your family member could say that to you. “Christ is the end of the law. What are you doing? Why do you think it’s so important? Christ is the end of the law.”

Well, they don’t understand what they’re reading. They don’t understand what they’re reading as sincere as they might be. End, they take the word end there to mean that it’s abolished, that Christ abolished the law, but what they don’t understand is that word end doesn’t mean abolished. That word end is tell us, it means the goal or the purpose of the law. And we talk like that too, not all the time, but to what end? You’re talking to someone, “Okay, well, you’re doing that, you’re doing this or that. To what end? To what purpose? What is your goal? What’s the point of what you’re doing?” We’ve all heard that and said that perhaps. So that’s not a new unfounded way to understand the word, end.

In this case, it’s telos and it means the goal or the purpose. Instead of the law being abolished, its ultimate purpose was fulfilled in Christ or by Christ, in Christ and by Christ. And He exemplified perfect obedience and revealed that the law had a deeper spiritual intent. That’s why the chapter began talking to the Israelites. There was a human self-righteousness that was going on, and that was not correct, that was not right. And we’re being told that Christ was the end, the purpose of that law, people born or blood Israelites. It’s ultimately about Jesus Christ and His role and what God intended Him to do. That’s a proper understanding of Christ being the end of the law.

Another verse that gets cited as proof that the commands are no longer in effect or is in Colossians chapter two. Colossians chapter two. Colossians chapter two, verse fourteen. Again, brethren, what I just explained to you about Christ being the end of the law, the tell us, that’s in the book. That’s in the Ten Commands book. Just like it was available to me, it’s available to you.

Colossians chapter two. Another verse used to claim that the law is done away. Colossians chapter two, verse thirteen. Let’s start there. “And you being dead in your sins...” That’s interesting, we’re talking about sin. “...and the uncircumcision of your flesh has He quickened together with Him having forgiven you all trespasses...” Okay, still talking about sin, and now we see forgiveness. “...blotting out the handwriting of the ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross.”

The Ten Commandments nailed to the cross. We’ve all heard that phrase where it comes from an interpretation of this verse. Did God nail the Ten Commandments to the cross or are they required for salvation? It’s a fundamental question. Well, yet again, we are required to understand what’s being said. The ordinances there being referred to refers to the ceremonial laws of God, not the moral laws of God. It’s interesting it called them ordinances. That’s a different word than commandments.

We’ve been reading about commandments. Now it’s talking about ordinances. That should at least get our attention. No? Is that the same thing? Well, in this case, it’s a reference to ceremonial laws, not the moral law of God. Not the Ten Commandments. The ceremonial laws included the animal sacrifices. Those sacrifices that pointed to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice when He was nailed to the cross. He was nailed to the cross as an act of sacrifice. Therefore, the sacrificial laws, the laws that were in place before Christ walked the earth and was ultimately killed and sacrificed, those human sacrifices or sacrifices of animals, that whole requirement was ultimately nailed to the cross when Christ was sacrificed.

That’s pretty plain. There is no further need to sacrifice animals as a requirement or as a reaction to sin because Christ did it already. He was the ultimate sacrifice. His sacrifice allowed God to nail the requirement for sacrificial ordinances to the cross. Christ dying for us does not mean we can dishonor our parents. Christ dying, going through all that pain and suffering does not mean we can lie to people and we can kill people, and we can cheat on our husbands and cheat on our wives. That’s insanity to believe that. What was blotted out was the record of sin. Those sins that we were being held accountable for, that’s what was blotted out. Not the law itself. Not the Ten Commandments.

Early on, very early on, God made a distinction between the ceremonial laws, the washings, and the pots, and sacrifices, and all those rituals. He made a distinction between those laws. Now, those were required. Those were law, but they were ceremonial laws. He made a difference between the ceremonial law and what I’m calling the moral law. The deeper law. The Ten Commandments. The moral law equals the Ten Commandments. These are eternal principles that define right and wrong. They transcend washing pots and killing goats. These laws were spoken by God. They were written by His finger.

Eventually, these laws were written in our hearts. God did not write a law about sacrificing a sheep in our hearts. That’s not the law that’s written in our hearts. The law that’s written in our hearts is the deeper law. These laws are binding for all humanity. All human beings are expected to adhere to these laws, to the deeper moral laws, the ten commandments. The ceremonial laws, also known as the law of Moses, you may have heard that term, the ceremonial laws or laws of Moses were always meant to be temporary.

Turn to Deuteronomy thirty-one. Deuteronomy thirty-one. Deuteronomy thirty-one. These laws were always meant... those ceremonial laws were always meant to be temporary. Deuteronomy thirty-one verse twenty-four. Deuteronomy thirty-one, twenty-four, “And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of the law in a book...” Who did I say just wrote those? Who does the Bible say wrote those? Moses. The law of Moses. When Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites and bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord saying, “Take this book of the law...” The law of Moses. “...and put it in the side of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witnessed against you.”

So these laws that Moses wrote, the law of Moses, those laws were placed on the side of the ark. If you know anything about the ten commandments in the ark, the ten commandments were placed inside the ark. So the ten commands, that moral, those deeper, ultimately spiritual laws that were around from the beginning that are eternal, that transcend, those laws were inside the ark. You know, the ark represented the presence of God and His throne. The way it was built, it was a model of that. Those laws were inside the ark while the law of Moses was on the side of the ark. God very clearly and very early made a distinction between the moral law, the ten commandments and the law of Moses.

The moral law reflects God’s eternal character and the ceremonial law, as important as it was, it was merely a shadow of things to come. Very different. If you’re asked, what’s the difference? I thought the law was done away. Well, you’re right. The law was done away. The ceremonial law was done away. That’s what was done away. You’re right. Christ did die for us, and He... those laws were nailed to the cross. That’s correct. But what was not nailed to the cross was God’s expectation to keep the ten commandments. Simple as that. Christ did not come... As we read, Christ did not come to abolish the law. He came to magnify it. Matthew five. Matthew five. Matthew chapter five. Christ did not come to abolish the law. He came to magnify it. Let’s read verse seventeen. Matthew five seventeen.

“Think not...” This is Christ. “Think not that I am come to destroy the law.” Apparently He knew... God knew that people would think He came to destroy the law. “Why would you say it like that otherwise?” Well, He’s saying, “No, think not that I came to do that. Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I came not to destroy, but to fulfill.” There could be this idea, okay, you have this Messiah who’s come along, He’s been prophesied to come for thousands of years, and you have all these prophets and everything that’s been written. You can have this idea that Christ would come along and essentially eliminate all that and change all that.

That’s actually how many professing Christians see the Bible. They see Christ as having come and just, “Oh, we ended all that Old Testament stuff.” Christ is saying, “No, no, no. Don’t think that. Don’t think that. Think not I came to do that. I came to fulfill. For truly, I say unto you, verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, not one jot or one tittle shall no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.”

Christ just told us very plainly that He did not come to destroy the law. That word, destroy, means destroy. “I didn’t come to destroy it, I came to fulfill it.” Fulfill means to level up. You know how you can level up? I think about playing a video game. You level up, you go to the next level. You take it to the next level. You take it higher. Christ is taking the law higher, not diminishing it or destroying it. He’s taking it higher. It makes so much sense. John fourteen. It makes so much more sense. Why would God come and destroy a law that’s telling you not to kill people? John fourteen, fifteen. “If you love me…” do what? “…Keep my commandments.” Well, the commandments are done away. “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Obedience to the commandments is an act and a sign of love.

Remember the first four commandments, show love toward who? God. Right? The six, the rest of them, show love toward man. Rather than being a harsh set of rules, instead of it being a harsh set of rules, the commandments represent the greatest gift that God ever gave to mankind, Romans seven. “They represent the greatest gift God gave to mankind...” Romans chapter seven verse ten. Romans seven, ten, “...and the commandment which was ordained to life. The commandments bring life. They don’t bring death. They bring life. I found to be unto death, for sin, taking occasion by the commandment deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good.”

All He’s saying is, if it weren’t for the law, I wouldn’t have recognized the full impact of sin. I wouldn’t have recognized the folly in taking someone’s life. I wouldn’t have recognized the foolishness of dishonoring my parents or not keeping the Sabbath day or coveting something that doesn’t belong to me or lying to others. If the law wasn’t laid out in that way, I wouldn’t have fully understood the impact of that. I wouldn’t have understood that those things lead to death. The commandments become a warning, telling us not to do those things. It’s holy, it’s just, it’s good.

Rather than restrict us, the commands actually make us free. First John five. They actually free us. They don’t restrict us. First John five, verse three. First John five, three, “For this is the love of God...” What is the love of God? “...that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous us.” They’re not meant to bear us down. They’re not meant to grieve us. They’re not meant to oppress us. They’re for our benefit. They’re meant to free us. You may ask, “Okay, but how can something restrictive, how can something that’s a law, that’s meant to restrict us or can seem to restrict us, how can that make us free?” It’s counterintuitive. It doesn’t seem to fit.

Romans six. Yes, it is counterintuitive, partly because of this world we live in with its lack of understanding of the purpose of God’s commandments and His laws. Romans six verse fifteen. Romans six, fifteen. It says, “What then shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace, God forbid.” Oh, we’re under grace. We’re no longer under the law. Well, that’s a misunderstanding as well. We’re no longer under the penalty of the law. We’re still under the law. We’re no longer under the penalty of the law. We’ll read about that in a bit, what that penalty is. “Know you not...” Verse sixteen. “...that to whom you yield your self-service to obey, His servants you are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness, but God be thanked.”

“Thank God that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine, which was delivered unto you...” It includes the ten commandments. “...being made free from sin.” You became servants of righteousness. Sin, brethren, enslaved us. Sin is what is restrictive, not the law. Sin is restrictive. Obedience to the law brings freedom. Satan flips the narrative. Oh, those laws are restrictive. No, it’s the other way. Sin is restrictive. Brethren, sometimes we have to be told, no, we can’t do something. Any parent will tell you that, any good parent, sometimes you have to be told no.

Just take the fourth commandment. Think about we’re talking about the benefits of it. Honoring the Sabbath provides rest and renewal on a weekly basis. It reduces burnout, it promotes wellbeing. How many times do we hear about those things today? There’s value in setting aside twenty-four hours every week, you can count on, you can book it, every seven days. That seventh day you can count on the fact that you can rest, that you can stop doing all the things that you would typically do, and you can rest.

Families can reconnect with each other on the Sabbath. I have two teenage boys, my wife, we’re all going in different directions all week, but the Sabbath is a time that we can count on to come together, to reconnect with each other. I can reflect on an individual basis, I can reflect on my week from a spiritual perspective. I can rest physically. Everyone benefits from reduced stress and improved mental health. All you hear today is mindfulness. You hear about mindfulness and reducing stress. It’s a popular subject today. Everyone seems to be talking about it.

Well, we’re just catching up to what God has been saying for thousands of years. He built it into one of the commandments, to rest, to be refreshed. Instead of seeing the Sabbath as a, no, you can’t, no, I can’t, fill in the blank. See it as a, yes, I can, yes, I get to. I get to spend a twenty-four-hour period resting, reflecting on God, spending time with brethren, spending time with my family. As we so clearly see, unless God requires it, man won’t do it. It’s for our benefit.

Deuteronomy five. Deuteronomy five. The commandments are a blessing. Deuteronomy five verse twenty-nine. Deuteronomy five, twenty-nine. “Oh, that there were such in heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their children forever.” God wants it to be well with us. He wants it to be well for our children. He wants that to be the case forever. God is a loving parent, He wants what’s best for us. The ten commandments provide what’s best for us.

Proverbs three. Proverbs three. It’s no wonder Satan wants us to believe that the law was done away. If God wants what’s best for us, Satan is saying, “Ooh, I don’t want them doing that.” Proverbs three. Proverbs chapter three, “My son, forget not my law, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and long life in peace shall they add to you.”

God wants long life and peace for us. It comes through keeping His commandments. “Let not mercy and truth forsake you...” Verse three. “...bind them about your neck, write them upon the table of your heart...” Verse four. “...so shall you find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.”

By keeping God’s commandments, we find favor in the sight of God and man. Remember the first four show love toward God. The last six, show love toward man. If we love God and love men, love our neighbor, we will find favor with both. Brethren, it all connects. It all connects. That’s why Satan is so opposed to it. That’s why he’s so against it. That’s why there’s such a misunderstanding surrounding it. Sin separates us from God. When we sin, when we don’t keep the commandments habitually, it separates us from God. Proverbs twenty-eight, stay here in Proverbs. Sin separates us from God. God won’t even hear from us. Proverbs twenty-eight, just a stark verse we’re going to read here. Proverbs twenty-eight, nine, “He that turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”

What? If I turn my ear away from hearing the law, my prayer is abomination? That word abomination means disgusting. Look it up. It means disgusting. My prayers are disgusting to God if I turn my ear away from hearing the law? What? The only thing worse than having disgusting prayers, brethren, there’s not many things worse than that, the only thing worse than having disgusting prayers is found in Romans six. Let’s go back to Romans. Romans chapter six. Romans chapter six. What can be worse than having prayers that are deemed disgusting?

Romans chapter six, verse twenty-three, “For the wages of sin is death.” Death is about the only thing I could think of that could be considered worse than having prayers deemed disgusting. To be dead, well, you can’t pray at all. “The wages of sin is death.” By ignoring the law, brethren, we earn death. I’m telling you, it’s not worth it. It’s not worth it. It’s just not. It’s not.

I’m going to take a little time here. I thought you might find this fun, I did. This exercise. I’m going to read. I’m going to describe two places. You can see them as two nations, or two cities or two neighborhoods, and as I read, I want you to think about which of these places would you rather live? Which of these places I’m describing, which of these nations, which of these neighborhoods or cities would you rather live in?

In this first nation, there is no acknowledgment of God. The people dismiss all higher authority, and they have no shared values, and there is rampant self-centeredness. There is also in this same nation widespread idolatry, materialism, and consumerism have replaced spirituality, and people idolize technology, celebrities and money. In this same neighborhood, they disrespect God’s name. Citizens are filled with hypocrites who disrespect God and use His name in vain. In this same town, no time is spent on rest or reflecting on God. Life is relentless. It’s fast-paced. Families are constantly juggling work, school, other responsibilities. They are burnt out. Their relationships are strained. Individuals feel overwhelmed and disconnected from each other.

In this same nation, there is a disregard for parental authority. Families are fragmented and there is no respect for elders. Parents are seen as irrelevant, and there’s little to no effort to honor their wisdom or their insights or their sacrifices that they’ve made for their children. In this same place, violence, there is rampant violence and a lack of safety. Crime and aggression are prevalent. There is an eroding trust among neighbors. People don’t trust each other. Parents, excuse me. Life feels insecure and human life is devalued.

In this same neighborhood, there is a normalization of infidelity. It’s normal. Commitments, a commitment in a relationship is rare. Adultery is socially accepted. It’s one of those things. Families deteriorate. As the trust between husbands and wives is undermined, it leads to long-term consequences to the children. There’s emotional insecurity within the family, there’s difficulty forming healthy relationships. The children don’t know what a proper relationship looks like. There is increased family instability, broken homes, and a weakened social cohesion. Do you want to live in a place like this? In a nation like this?

Next, in this same place, there’s theft and corruption. Theft, whether it’s petty, at the petty level, corporate level, the government level, it’s everywhere. No one trusts each other. People rely on burglary and alarm systems and rely on legal contracts for people to keep their word.

Lying and deception is everywhere. There’s dishonesty in business and in the media. There’s dishonesty within personal interactions. Trust is eroded. People are skeptical of each other. In fact, skepticism is considered a survival tactic. And finally, in this nation, in this town, in this neighborhood, envy. There’s covetousness in envy. Envy drives much of the social and economic dynamic within relationships. Discontent and rivalry overshadow unity and cooperation. Would you want to live in a place like that? It’s funny, as I read it, it feels like the world around us.

Everything I just read. It’s like it’s ripped right out of the headlines. Would you want to live in a place like that? Would you be happy in a place like that? Or would you rather live in a place where everyone recognizes that there is, in fact, a higher authority? That there is someone we have to be accountable to? That the principles of faith and spirituality are not just observed, they’re actually woven into the fabric of society.

There’s a sense of purpose and accountability. Instead of idolatry, relationships and character are prioritized over having material possessions. Over focusing on wealth and materialism. People worship the creator instead of the creation. There’s a reverence for the name of God. It’s evident in public and private conversations. People recognize the significance and the respect that God deserves.

In this same nation, we rest every week, and we reflect on God. It’s a part of the culture. Everything is built around it. The entire nation, everything that’s done is built around this idea of rest and reflection and reverence for God. There’s a dedicated time for rest and spiritual reflection and everyone is rejuvenated and ready to go that first day of the week. Work stops on that seventh day everywhere. There’s a respect for parents. Families are strong. There’s mutual respect amongst families. Elders are now actually being honored, being looked to for their wisdom and their experience. There’s safety in their value of life.

There is no violence, and the sanctity of life is deeply respected. There’s a commitment and fidelity in relationships. Marriages are now strong. Husbands and wives stay married. They don’t cheat on each other. Children get to see that. “Oh, that’s what a mom is like. That’s what a dad is like. I want to be a mom someday. I want to be a dad someday.” Honesty and integrity are rampant, are everywhere. Theft and corruption are eliminated. Trust flourishes in business and in personal dealings. Truth is valued in all areas of life. There’s transparency and fairness. And, of course, in the same nation, there’s contentment and generosity. There is gratitude. There’s generosity instead of envy and rivalry. There’s a spirit of mutual support. Who wouldn’t want to live in a place like that, in a nation like that?

Brethren, that’s merely, merely describing a place, a nation, a city, a neighborhood. The second description is merely describing a place that adheres to the ten commandments. The first place that I read about, the place that we can look around, is the world and see that it is a place that has rejected the Ten Commandments. Where would you rather live? Where would you rather your children grow up, your grandchildren? Obedience to God offers blessings, protection, and a closer relationship with Him. To accept God is to accept His law, to accept the law is to accept God. Disobedience brings separation, instability, and suffering. Just keep it simple. Keep it simple. The commandments reflect God’s character, which is holy, just, and good.

I have a challenge for you. I call it the ten-day challenge. You probably know where I’m going, ten is not a coincidence. We’ve been talking about the ten commandments, so I have a ten-day challenge. Take the next, or take ten days to study each commandment in-depth, focusing on one commandment per day. Now, the commandments are listed in Exodus twenty. We read them. They’re also in Deuteronomy five.

Now, it doesn’t have to be ten days in a row. I’ll go easy on you. It doesn’t have to be ten days in a row, we all get busy, but take ten days over the next short space to study one commandment a day. Start your study, it could be at the beginning of the day, by reading one of the commandments, meditate on each of the words in the commandments. What stands out to you? Look up related scriptures. Scriptures that further support each of those commandments. Reflect on how each commandment applies to you. Think about a world where people follow that commandment and a world where they don’t. Ask God for wisdom on how to incorporate each of those commandments into your life.

It’ll be a fun study. Talk to each other. Maybe journal your experience of going through these ten days. Talk to each other about the things that you’ve learned. Make it fun. Make it stick. Remember, God’s commandments are not grievous. They’re given to us for our benefit and our joy. The ten commandments, they bring freedom, not restriction. They protect us from the harm and the chaos caused by sin.