Moses on the Mountain with the Lord - Part 13
(The Ten Commandments - Part 3)
Exodus 20:12-17
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - September 22, 2010
BACKGROUND:
*When Moses came down the mountain from his fifth meeting with the Lord, he carried something back with him: the Ten Commandments. Tonight we will finish looking at these tablets “written with the finger of God.” (Exo 31:18) (1)
*But please remember that the Ten Commandments and all of God’s commandments hang on the Lord’s two great laws of love.
-Jesus gave them to us in Matt 22:37-40, where:
37. Jesus said to him, ’You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38. This is the first and great commandment.
39. And the second is like it: ’You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
40. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
*Every commandment of God hangs on God’s kind of gracious love.
-Anything that God ever asks us to do or not to do can all be traced back to love, so we study the Ten Commandments in the light of Godly love.
*The first 4 Commandments primarily focus on vertical love, that is, our love for God:
-The 1st Commandment in vs. 3: “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
-The 2nd Commandment in vs. 4-6:
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;
5. you shall not bow 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 to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
6. but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
-The Third Commandment in vs. 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. “
-And the Fourth Commandment in vs. 8: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
*The first 4 Commandments focus on our vertical love, our love for God.
-But the remaining Commandments focus on our horizontal love, that is, our love for one another. Let’s take a look at them tonight, reading Exodus 20:12-17.
12. "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
13. "You shall not murder.
14. "You shall not commit adultery.
15. "You shall not steal.
16. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17. "You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s."
INTRODUCTION:
*A corrupt businessman once told Mark Twain: "Before I die I mean to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I will climb Mount Sinai and read the Ten Commandments aloud at the top."
*To that Mark Twain replied: "I have a better idea. You could stay in Boston and KEEP them." (2)
*Over 100 years later that’s still excellent advice.
-In the long run we will never regret being obedient to the Lord.
-We will never regret keeping His Commandments.
-So, it’s a good thing to for us study them, and apply them to our lives today.
1. When we do, the first thing we see is that God cares deeply about our homes.
*The Lord cares deeply about our homes.
[1] That’s one reason why the Lord gave the Fifth Commandment in vs. 12. There the Lord said, “Honor your father and your mother.”
*This is rightly so, because parents do so much for their children. Most of them do, anyway.
-Parents are the ones who gladly wipe their bottoms, and don’t really mind too much when their children spit up on them. It’s just “angel juice” you know. (That’s what we used to say.)
-Parents are the ones who walk the floor all night when the children are sick or just cutting teeth.
-Parents are the ones who drive 50,000 miles to carry them to games, plays, parties, recitals, doctors, dentists and more.
-Parents are the ones who struggle with homework, try to steer them through the terrible twos and then through the more terrible teens.
*Good parents are the ones who demonstrate the love of our Heavenly Father to their children. So, God says that we should honor them.
*And all of us children need to honor our parents, while we can.
-I wish that I could do something to honor my parents tonight, but they’re not in this world. Honor your parents while you can.
*Now, of course God also cares about how parents treat their children. And though He doesn’t mention it here, He certainly does tell us in many other places in His Word. Psalm 127 tells us that children are a gift from the Lord. And listen to what God says in Deuteronomy 6:4-7:
4. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!
5. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
*There’s that greatest commandment again, but in the very next verses, God says:
6. These words which I command you today shall be in your heart;
7. you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
*God cares deeply about our homes. He cares about how parents treat their children. And He cares how children treat their parents. Again in vs. 12: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”
*Notice the promise of this command: “that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”
-In Ephesians 6, Paul explained that this is the first of God’s commands with a promise attached to it. But God has hundreds of promises in His Word for us. In fact, someone counted 1,260 promises in the Word of God. And we can count on them all, because God always keeps His Word! But this does not mean that if you honor your parents you will always live to be 80.
*Nobody ever honored their Father more than Jesus Christ, and He died at the age of 33.
-And we know that He died for us.
-Jesus Christ died on the cross to take the punishment for all of our sins.
-Jesus died on the cross and rose again to give a pardon and eternal life to all who will trust Him as Savior and Lord.
-If you have never put your trust in Jesus Christ, I hope you will do that tonight.
*But right now, remember that He died at a young age. Many of God’s choicest saints have died at a young age, so there can be overriding circumstances.
-But God makes a commitment to us here. And the commitment is that if we honor our parents, life will be better for them and for us.
*The Lord gave us the Fifth Commandment, because He cares how children treat their parents.
[2] But God also cares how husbands and wives treat each other, so in vs. 14 He gave us the Seventh Commandment, where the Lord simply said, “You shall not commit adultery.”
*We could spend hours on this subject, but tonight let me sum it up by saying this: God wants us to be devoted and loyal both to each other, and to Him.
-God cares deeply about our homes.
2. And God commands us to harbor life.
*God commands us to do everything we can to protect, preserve, and defend life.
-So in vs. 13, God gave us the Sixth Commandment. There the Lord simply said: “You shall not murder” or “Thou shalt not kill.”
*Of course, this means that we should not commit murder.
-But it also means that we should not commit suicide or have an abortion.
*Several years ago, there was a vote on a new abortion law in South Dakota.
-Listen to part of an email that sent out by voteyesforlife:
“Thank you for your prayers. Planned Parenthood is spending another $450,000 this last week on propaganda and lies on the TV. Planned Parenthood made $17 million last year in South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota, just killing babies.
*I have to debate the abortion providers tomorrow night at the University of Sioux Falls. We need votes, vans, volunteers and money. If anyone ever wanted to do missionary work, coming to South Dakota for a 3 day excursion has the potential to save millions of lives and change the tide of history.
*I have a guy who said he will double any money we raise up to $250,000.00 this week, praise God. The former abortionist has now become a Christian and has cut some powerful TV ads for us. Also, Martin Luther King’s niece is here the next three days. She’s had two abortions and her mother told her two days ago that she wanted to abort her, but her father wouldn’t let her. . .
*Thank God for that! -- And thank God for the forgiveness Martin Luther King’s niece found in Jesus Christ!”
*The email closed with these words: “You may want to forward this to your email list to see if any fellow Christians will want to help us in this civil war of the century. The lives of millions of unborn are at stake.”
*This was true 4 years ago, and it’s still true today.
-God commands us to harbor life.
3. But God also cares deeply about our honesty.
*So in vs. 15, God gave us the Eighth Commandment. There the Lord said, “You shall not steal. Then in vs. 16, God gave us the Ninth Commandment, where He said, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
*Don’t steal and don’t lie. -- Live honestly.
-Why does God care so much about our honesty?
[1] One reason why is because trust is the glue that holds our families and society together.
-You will never have a real friendship without honesty.
-You will never have a happy family without honesty.
*This doesn’t mean that we have to open our mouths and spew out every thought that passes through our brains. Sometimes it’s best just to say nothing.
*As a husband, I’ve got to admit that it took me a long time to learn this.
-I heard another man say the same thing today.
-The fact is that we don’t have to say everything we think.
-Silence can be golden. But at the same time we have to do our best to be honest, because people have got to be able to count on us.
*Why does God care so much about our honesty? -- It’s the glue that holds us together.
[2] But God also cares about our honesty, because HE is supremely honest.
-In Titus 1:2 we find that our God is so honest that he cannot lie. -- Wow!
*In John 8:44, Jesus spoke to the unbelieving Jews and said: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
*The devil is the father of lies. That alone ought to motivate us to be honest!
*The question is: “Who’s your Father?”
-If the devil is our father, then we will be more and more comfortable living in deceit. But if God is our Father, through faith in Jesus Christ, we will be growing more and more honest in our ways.
-And that matters, because God cares deeply about our honesty.
4. But also notice that God commands us to be good hearted toward our neighbors.
*So in vs. 17, the Lord gave us the Tenth Commandment by saying, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
*Covet: What does it mean? -- In this case it means to greatly delight in and desire something that belongs to someone else. And it’s interesting how much detail God goes into here: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s HOUSE; you shall not covet your neighbor’s WIFE, nor his MALE SERVANT, nor his FEMALE SERVANT, nor his OX, nor his DONKEY, nor ANYTHING that is your neighbor’s.”
*This reminds us that coveting is a widespread problem. We all naturally tend to covet all kinds of things. We all have a natural tendency to be envious and greedily desire what other people have. But a greedy heart is poison both to us, and to the people around us.
[1] On top of that, coveting other people’s stuff is a fruitless pursuit. It’s like a dog chasing its tail. You’re never going to get there. If I covet my neighbor’s $500,000 house, and finally get one, then there’s that million dollar home right next door. There’s no end to coveting. It is a fruitless pursuit.
*I disagree with just about every word Ted Turner has ever uttered in public. But something he once said in a TV interview gives great insight. Barbara Walters asked Ted Turner, "What does it feel like to be so wealthy?"
*And he replied, "It’s like a paper bag. Everyone sees the bag. Everyone wants it. (But) once you get the bag, you discover that the bag is empty." (4)
*Coveting other people’s stuff is a fruitless pursuit, and the truth is that we have already been blessed beyond measure.
[2] On top of that, coveting other people’s stuff is a faithless pursuit. Remember the words of Hebrews 13:5-6...
5. Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you.’’
6. So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’’
*In a very real sense then, covetousness is the exact opposite of faith.
-And we want to be people of faith!
*There is one more thing to notice about this last of the Ten Commandments, and that is: This commandment takes it back inside. This commandment deals with the heart. As John Gill explained: This last commandment shows “that the law of God not only forbids external acts of sin, but the inward and first motions of the mind to it. . .” (5)
*All sin starts in the heart. Jesus made this so clear in the Sermon on the Mount, where He raised the bar far above these Ten Commandments.
*How are we ever going to reach that high?
-Only by the grace of God.
-Only by being born again by trusting in Jesus Christ.
-We must be born again!
*Now remember what all these rules are for: God gave them so we won’t hurt ourselves, so we won’t hurt other people, and so we won’t hurt God.
-Remember that the Holy Spirit is grieved by our sins.
*In these last six of the Ten Commandments the Lord put the priority on our relationships with other people. God deeply cares about our relationships.
*Most especially, He cares about our relationship with Him.
-He cares so much that He died on the Cross for our sins
-And now the Risen Savior will give you a relationship with God, if you will receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.
*This relationship with God can make a difference in every other relationship in your life.
-Do you have a relationship with God?
-Put your trust in the Lord, and you will.
*Let’s go to the Lord in prayer.
1. Good explanation of Moses’ time on the mountain: “Seven Ascents” by Richard Gamble - www.heraldmag.org/2006/06mj_3.htm
2. Moody Bible Institute’s Today in the Word, September, 1991, p. 32. - Found at Sermonillustrations.com
3. Source: email forwarded to me from “In Other Words” - Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 6:09 PM from voteyesforlife.com - (“In Other Words” produced by Dr. Raymond McHenry - 6130 Barrington ~ Beaumont, Texas 77706 (800) 553-4697 - www.iows.net)
4. Stephen Arterburn, “Winning at Work Without Losing at Love” (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994), p. 141. (Source: Dynamic Preaching - Sept. #5 sermon - 2001)
5. John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible - Exodus 20:17
