Part #1
Steps to a Better Life
A Study of the Ten Commandments
Welcome to the Blizzard of 2022! Well, it’s not exactly a blizzard, it’s cold, windy and rainy. If you are from the North … it’s just another day. If you are from the South … it’s a blizzard. We are glad to have you here and I especially want to welcome our South Campus and our online campus. Let me know that you are watching … share it on social media.
You know that I like to start with something funny:
Did you hear about the blonde driving a car became lost in a snowstorm? She didn't panic however, because she remembered what her dad had once told her. "If you ever get stuck in a snowstorm, just wait for a snow plow to come by and follow it." A few minutes later a snow plow came by, and she started to follow it.
She followed the plow for about forty-five minutes. Finally, the driver of the truck got out and asked her what she was doing. And she explained that her dad had told her if she ever got stuck in a snow storm, to follow a plow.
The driver nodded and said, "Well, I'm done with the Wal-Mart parking lot, do you want to follow me over to Best Buy now?"
You do know how do you find Will Smith in a snowstorm, don’t you? Follow the fresh prints.
We are so glad that you are here. Some time ago, a Gallup Poll revealed that 84% of Americans believe that the Ten Commandments are a valid guide to life. That’s encouraging until you realize that another survey revealed that only 30% of those polled could name even 3 of the Commandments.
For many generations the Ten Commandments were considered a standard part of a good American education. Children learned to recite all ten, but those days are over.
They may be over, but the Ten Commandments are still important. I have done a poor job in teaching these lessons. Over the last couple of weeks, I looked over my notes and realized that I have not presented a message on the Ten Commandments for a long time …. Like nearly 20 years. If you can’t name the Ten Commandments, I take some of the blame. Like I said, they are important and Exodus 20 tells us why.
Exodus 20:1
1 And God spoke all these words:
God spoke all these words—therefore they have lasting moral authority and these words deserve our attention. The Ten Commandments were written by God … on two stone tablets … and given to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The first tablet has four commandments that deal with our relationship with God and the second tablet has six statements that deal with our relationship with other people. They teach us to love God and love people. Here’s the Big Idea.
The Ten Commandments teach us to love God and love people. We are not saved by them, but we are kept safe by them.
Exodus 20:1-2
1 And God spoke all these words:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Right up front, The Lord reminded people of Israel that He had selected them to be His chosen people. In this statement, He is reminding them that He has redeemed them from four hundred years of Egyptian slavery. They were His chosen people and God uses these ten statements to communicate what He expects in return.
So many people look at these ten statements and say that they are negative, but they are not. They are actually positive … they are Steps to a Better Life.
I believe that everyone of us can grow in our faith if we embrace the principles of Exodus 20. Here is the first Commandment.
Exodus 20:3
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
God is very clear about what He expects. This is a statement about priorities. The First Commandment teaches us the importance of having our priorities in order.
Here’s the point.
1. Put God first. This will be the best year of your life if it is your best year spiritually.
God wants you prioritize your lives around Him.
God wants to be number one in your life.
Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Here’s what I know.
When you put God first in your life, He will take care of everything else.
Proverbs 3:6
“In everything you do, put God first and He will direct you and crown your efforts with success.”
I don’t know anybody who doesn’t want to be a success in life. Here God is giving you the secret of true success. The secret of success is to put God first in your life!
Do you want to be a success in your marriage? Put God first in your marriage. Do you want to be a success in your family? Put God first in your family. You want to be a success in your career? Put God first in your career. Do you want to be a success in your schooling and education? Put God first in your study.
God does not bless what He’s not number one in. But He does bless anything that we put Him first in.
Imagine what could happen in your life if you decided that you would intentionally put God first every day when you wake up.
What would happen if you said, “Good morning Lord. I dedicate this day to you.” Just that one sentence. What would it look like if you would pray first? That you would say a prayer before you eat, that you would say a prayer before your kids take off to school … you say, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, let’s put God first …let’s pray.” “Father, in Jesus’ name, bless them today. Help them to be a leader and not a follower. Go. Go. Go ….in Jesus’ name.”
Imagine this: Before you take that appointment, your assistant says that mister so and so is here, should I show him in. You say, “Wait just a minute.” Then, you say, “Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask you to bless this meeting. Help me to make loads of money in Jesus’ name.” Then you say, “Okay, send them on in.”
What if in every situation, we would be intentional to put God first. Let’s say that out loud, “Put God first.”
Anytime something besides God is number one in your life that’s called an idol…that leads us to the second commandment.
Exodus 20:4-5
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them…
No idols. Most of us think that we have no problem keeping this commandment. We don’t have little statutes sitting around; We don’t pray to idols or dead saints. We need to understand that an idol is anything that takes the place of
emptiness.
Idols can be statues or simple possessions. All of us at times are tempted to worship things, clothes, clubs, cars and technology. The idols that we worship command our attention and they drive God out of our life.
Here’s the second point.
2. Worship the Lord only. Don’t allow things in this world to become idols that you worship.
This commandment teaches us to treasure God above everything else. Don’t reduce them to an object, but embrace the essence of who He is.
God loves you and He wants you to love Him back. When you love Him back that is worship. Worship is knowing and loving God back.
Worship is focusing your attention on God. It’s focusing your mind and your thoughts on God. Worship is also expressing my affection to God and using your talents and abilities to honor God.
The first commandment deals with the “who” of worship. The second commandment deals with the “how” of worship.
One way we worship God is through reading the Bible. We just celebrated New Years. I know that many of us use the New Year to create some New Years’ Resolutions. 80% of our resolutions deal with diet and exercise. This year add to it a commitment to read though the Bible. Go to our website: StevensCreekChurch.com and look at the menu bar on the left and you will see the One Year Bible tab.
Reading the Bible will help you grow spiritually. You will train your mind. You will worship God with your mind. What if you read the entire Bible this year? I think that you would grow spiritually and have a better understanding of what it means to follow Christ. Here’s the third one.
Exodus 20:7
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
This verse reminds us that God has entrusted to us something special, something precious. He has invited us into relationship with Him. He has given us His name. It’s special. Here’s the point.
3. Keep God’s name holy. God will not put up with the irreverent use of His name.
Now as a southern boy I grew up thinking that this commandment is primarily like one's grandmother's directive, “Son, don't cuss.” Now, let me say, “Your Grandmother is right … don’t use profanity.”
We live in a day when the name of God is smeared and dragged through the gutters of the entertainment industry, in politics, in the school yards and in the break rooms of our workplaces.
Sometimes Patty and I are shocked at the language that is used on television. It is apparent that the name of God is no longer sacred and the name of Jesus is no longer honored by some people. It is just another name.
What does profanity mean? It comes from two Latin words - pro and fane. Pro means in front of; fane means temple.
In other words, profanity is anything that I would say that I would not deem appropriate in a temple, in a sanctuary or in a holy place.
In other words, if you couldn't say it in church don't say it at all. That's profanity. Just be careful.
It’s confusing sometimes. I was taught that I could say “dang” but I could not say “durn” or “dam.” I could say “Geez” but I could not say “Jesus” unless I was praying. Then you add the popular phases “Oh my God!” or the Text phrases OMG! We are not going to get legalistic here, but be careful.
Guard your heart. Don’t allow the enemy to fill your heart with negative words, because you become what you say. Your words have power. Use them wisely.
Exodus 20:8-11
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God...
11 …Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
4. Keep the Lord’s Day special. If God is going to be your best friend, then you have to give your best time to him.
Notice that this is the only commandment that begins with the word, remember.
In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was celebrated on Saturday. When Jesus rose from the grave on Sunday morning, the New Testament church moved the day of worship from Saturday to the Lord’s Day which was Sunday. In its simplest description, Sabbath is a 24-hour block of time in which we stop work, enjoy rest and connect with God.
Sabbath is a time to stop and remember all that God has done. It’s a time of reflection on God’s greatness and to rest in all He generously provides for us.
These commandments were given to the Hebrew people after they were delivered from slavery. Their slavery was centered around making bricks every day.
Every day their identity was found in how many bricks they produced. If they did not produce enough, they were whipped, shamed, beaten and abused. For four hundred thirty years, seven days a week, this is what they did. They made bricks. They cried out to God: Please rescue us. Help us. Please, God, please. Rescue us. Help us.
God did. He allowed them to cross the Red Sea. They get to the other side and they begin to move toward the Promise Land. And they wonder: How do we live into this new reality of freedom?
They’re hungry. They tell Moses: We’re hungry; how are we going to have food?
God says: All right, here’s what I’m going to do. You’re going to wake up tomorrow and there’s going to be manna that’s fallen to the ground and every morning all you need to do is to go out and get just enough. Get like a pint full. Bring that in and that will be enough for you to make bread. But on the sixth day, don’t just grab one portion, grab two portions: one for today and one for tomorrow.
Exodus 16:23
Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord.
Holy. That means it’s supposed to be a day completely set apart from all the others. Tomorrow is to be a day of rest and it’s to be set apart. You are to take that food, two portions of it—one for that day and one for the next day—and on that Sabbath day, you need to learn how to rest.
Now you need to realize that these people did not know how to rest. All they’ve ever known is making bricks and doing as much as they can to meet their quota. Their identity was in what they produced.
Here we see God, in his grace and compassion and with the love of a Father, is trying to teach his people that he’s nothing like Pharaoh. A pharaoh wants you to work and find your identity in what you produce.
But Sabbath … Sabbath is a day where you find your identity in God. And what Sabbath often does is it forces us to see what is below the surface.
So, here’s the question of the day:
Who is your pharaoh?
You might be sitting there thinking that question is too deep. What do I mean by asking who is your pharaoh? Let me give you a story.
Johnny Cash. Great musician and artist. If you read any of his biographies or if you’ve seen Walk the Line, you know that his older brother died, and that his dad wished that it had been Johnny who died.
So Johnny had this angst and this belief that he had no worth. You hear it in the words of the songs that he wrote. It comes to this point where he buys this brand-new house, and he has June Carter and her family there and it’s him and his family. And all he’s trying to do is get his father’s approval.
And he goes: Dad, do you like the house? Do you like it? Is it big enough? What do you think? Tell me. Tell me. Tell me.
He was begging for his father’s approval and his father just looks at him and goes: It’s all right. It’s just a house.
Johnny gets up from the table, walks outside, and realizes he can’t make his dad happy. His whole life had been to serve his pharaoh, his father.
Who’s your pharaoh? Is it your boss? Is it some lie that someone spoke to you a number of years ago saying you’d never amount to anything and you’re like: I’m going to prove you wrong?
What’s the thing that won’t allow you to turn your mind off?
What’s the thing that won’t allow you to disconnect from work?
What’s the thing that makes you keep climbing and striving and achieving and performing? What’s that thing?
It could be a lie. It could be a person. It could be a voice. What is it? Who is your pharaoh?
The Sabbath wants to go after that.
The Sabbath reminds us that
we have been rescued from Pharaoh.
The Sabbath wants you to stop bowing down to pharaoh and begin to receive from the Father.
Johnny Cash never felt as though he received his earthy father’s love, but in the 1970’s Johnny Cash repented of his sins and came to faith in Jesus Christ. He attended a Church of God in Henderson, Tennessee. The pastor at that time was John Colbaugh. Pastor Colbaugh led him to the Lord. Pastor Colbaugh was my wife’s pastor when we were married. Here’s a picture of Johnny Cash being baptized by Pastor Colbaugh.
For years Johnny Cash was known for drugs, alcohol and wild living, but Jesus Christ rescued him. Jesus saved him. Jesus made him clean.
There’s nothing too dirty that God cannot make worthy.
Today, Jesus wants to do the same for you. Over the next few minutes, I want to give you an opportunity to think about what I have said.
April Sturgell is coming to sing a song called Clean. I want you to remain seated and listen to the words of this song. After this song, I will come and lead you in a prayer.
April Sturgell Song: “Clean”
Prayer of Salvation
