Ten Broken Commandments
“Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 8 Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that 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, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. 18 When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, 19 and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die." 20 Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin." Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Intro: How many of the Ten Commandments have you broken in the past month?
At the northwestern end of Arabia there is a 150 mile peninsula shaped somewhat like a triangle.
It is bordered on the east by the Red Sea and on the west by the Gulf of Aqaba.
The Gaza strip lies directly north.
This area is over 23,000 square miles in Egypt is known as the Sinai Peninsula.
St Catherine’s Monastery is one of the oldest religious communities in the world.
An earlier chapel is said to have been built in the year 337.
and is believed to be the location of the burning bush.
In close proximity of this area is where God also gives Moses the Ten Commandments.
After leaving behind the slavery and bondage of Egypt
The Israelites had been traveling in the desert for about 3 months when they came to Mount Sinai.
Moses tells the people to unpack and set up tents and to prepare to hear important words from God.
There is a lesson in this story for us today that we must also prepare to listen and hear the word of God.
How do you get ready to meet God?
On the third morning after Moses had talked to God,
the Israelites where busy making their breakfast
when suddenly there was a large rumble and a flash of light over the mountain.
Anyone who was still sleeping would have been startled and woke up suddenly.
Everyone would have seen the mountain
There was lightning and thunder,
and a very thick cloud of smoke hung over the top of the mountain.
Just as God had earlier told Moses to take his shoes off for he was standing on Holy Ground
God has told Moses to warn the people not to get too close to the mountain because of their uncleanliness.
This goes beyond the outward cleanliness it is more about the inward preparedness.
If you knew that you would meet God before the end of this day what would you want to do to be ready?
This question is the same question no matter whether you consider yourself a saint or a sinner.
Whether you have been in the church all your life or you just come once or twice every few months.
Most people’s understanding of the Ten Commandments is based on their concept of law and rules.
It is when we see the Ten Commandments in the light of Grace that we truly discover the nature of God.
In this sermon I am going to lead you from seeing the Ten Commandments as laws and rules
To seeing the Ten Commandments as part of God’s big plan called Grace.
James 2:10 “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”
If we break just one law we are sinners.
You can’t break God’s law just a little bit.
Breaking God’s law is like dropping a glass vase on a concrete floor and saying I only broke it once.
John Wesley in his sermon on Christian Perfection makes the point.
Did Abraham not lie when he told Abimelech that Sarah was his “sister?” Genesis 20:2
Did Moses not take God’s name in vain when he “struck the rock” at Kadesh? Numbers 20:8
Did David not commit the sins of adultery and murder in the matters of Uriah the Hittite? 2 Samuel 11
Yet these men are set apart as among the holiest men among the Jews.
Wesley goes on in point 14 of his sermon
(you thought I have long sermons) on Christian Perfection Wesley has 30 points.
Did The Apostles themselves not commit sins, Peter and Paul the two greatest of them.
Peter for his backsliding into Jewish customs after becoming a Christian of Christ
And Paul sins as he judges and condemns Barnabas along with Peter as a hypocrite in Galatians chapter 2
If these two Apostles sinned after knowing Christ as Saviour
would we also infer from this that the other Apostles also sinned?
And then also that Christians of all ages do and will commit sin as long as we live.
The Apostle Paul goes on to explain: “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited,
I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
This does not give us a blank check to sin.
What does is teaches us that from any spiritual weakness
when we spend time with God the Father laboring over that weakness
we are made stronger because of our time spent in prayer and communion
with Christ through repentance and mediation.
God doesn’t take his Grace away, but if I don’t walk in it what good is it?
Did you clean up your heart and mind before coming to church this morning?
This is one of the hardest things for people to do.
To clean up the stinkin thinkin
To keep the main thing the main thing
We get so caught up in wanting things our own way
That we forget to focus on God and what is His way?
God wants you to use your time and energy to make yourself ready for your Sabbath meeting.
A Fortune 500 company was ready to promote a 38-year-old from vice president to president.
The board of directors planned to offer this man the prestigious position.
At lunch several members of the board unintentionally found themselves in line behind him.
Naturally, they were watching him closely, filled with excitement about the coming announcement.
Just then, everything changed.
When the young man came to the bread section,
he placed two, 5-cent butter patties on his tray and covered them up with his napkin.
When he paid for his meal, he did not reveal the stolen treasures.
An hour later, a room that should have been filled with joy was instead marked by anger.
And instead of being promoted to president,
the young man with the promising future was fired
- all for ten cents worth of butter.
The smallest of our sins is costly.
Have you spent time today getting ready to meet God?
Have you repented of the things in your life that you have sinned?
This week I ran to Save A Lot to get some potatoes.
The rest of the meal was already cooking.
And I was in a hurry.
There were three people in line ahead of me.
All I had in my hand were the potatoes
Ahead of me were three carts completely full.
Has this ever happened to you?
I am standing there thinking, they are going to have the dishes done by the time I get back home.
The first person said, if that is all you have you can cut in front of me.
The second person said, if that’s all you have you can go in front of me.
The third person.
Well let’s just say two out of three is not bad.
It kinda of gave me a renewed sense of hope.
That people would be so considerate to let someone go in front of them.
I don’t think they did it because they were hoping that someday they would be standing in line
and someone would let them go in front of them.
I think they did it because they had already been behind a line of full shopping carts
and someone had already let them go ahead.
I think they did it not to get Grace
But because they had already experienced Grace.
Even if you could keep all ten commandments
You will never be perfect enough to earn Grace.
You will never do enough good deeds to earn Grace.
There are things that make you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.
Being a church member is so much more than doing our civic duty or social charity.
Just doing things that make us feel good doesn’t earn you salvation.
But you will keep the ten commandments because you have been saved and you have received Grace.
I’m not talking about the fake grace, or cheap grace or phony grace.
The kind of grace that people flip on and off depending on who they are around or where they are.
I am talking about the Grace that lives inside you.
That you don’t put on before you come to church and then take off after you leave church.
The Apostle Paul understood Grace.
Paul said when you have done what I have done
And you have been where I have been
And God picks you up off a dirty Damascus Road and gives you a mission.
Forgives your sins.
And cleanses you from your unrighteousness.
When you get this kind of Grace you live into your new birth.
You walk in God’s calling.
You will not stay what you were.
You will forgive because you know the meaning of forgiveness.
You will love your enemies because you know you were once an enemy of God
but you have received the Grace of the cross.
You will work together as people of God because you were once a stranger and scattered in a foreign land
You were once alone and had no one to work with you.
But now you are part of a people of God.
You are brought into the household and family of God.
You are united with other believers working for the same cause.
Sharing the same faith.
Spreading the same Gospel.
You will no longer be isolated and alone in a little corner that nobody else will come into.
But you now come to the same table.
The Lord’s table.
You are now part of something bigger than yourself.
You are now part of the whole.
You are now part of the church.
You are now part of the Kingdom of God.
And it is not because of what you have done
But because of what He has done.
Mary of Bethany did not pour a jar of expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet in order to get Grace.
She poured the jar of expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet because she had already received Grace.
When you have done the doubted Jesus
like Mary of Bethany must have doubted Jesus when your brother Lazarus is sick and Jesus was three days late.
When you have lost faith like Mary must have lost faith because you believed God would heal your brother Lazarus and not let him die. But your brother dies anyway.
When you have seen the things that Mary had seen.
When you have been forgiven of what Mary had been forgiven of
When you understand how much you have been forgiven of
You will understand how big Grace really is.
You will be different from who you were.
You want want to go back to what you’ve done.
You will want to stay ready to meet God.
These are not ten suggestions they are ten commandments.
How do we stay ready when we keep breaking the ten commandments?
Except we find the answer in Proverbs 24:16
“for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again,
but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.” Proverbs 24:16
You see the difference is found not in our ability to never fail
But in our God ability to rise up again after we sin.
Christians are forgiven, but we are far from perfect!
You make countless mistakes...therefore I am not perfect!
....none of us are above being tempted....
....all of us have moments when our hearts are not completely pure.
John Wesley taught the people in his Holy Club:
Every one of us will make mistakes as long as we live...
...and every mistake is a transgression of the perfect law.
Therefore, every mistake...if it were not for the atoning blood of Christ,
would expose us to judgment and eternal damnation.
This means that every Christian...all of us...no matter how far along we are on the Christian journey
...no matter how close our relationship is with Christ....
....have the constant need for the grace of Christ
....and must pray: "Forgive us our trespasses."
Spiritual Holiness never becomes our possession...
...it is a gift that we must receive and open daily from Christ...
...we are not judged on our own ability to be people of great character...
...we are only judged according to our relationship and dependence on Christ.
Is it necessary to come to church every Sunday for Worship?
I wish we had more back rows in the church.
I am serious.
Have you ever noticed how that back row people are among the most faithful worshippers.
They are here almost every Sunday.
They get here early in order to get their seat.
The back rows are never empty.
I love you back row people.
Now don’t get upset that I am talking about where you sit in church.
Because I am not really talking about what section you set in.
Well, I am, but I am not.
I am talking more about your relationship with Christ.
So when I talk about these other seats in the middle.
I am not really talking about which seats you actually sit in.
But about where you are sitting in your spiritual seat or where you are at growing in your faith with God.
The middle people are not necessarily sitting in the middle pews.
The bible describes it at neither cold nor hot.
Lukewarm spiritually is not a good place to be.
It wasn’t a flickering flame that got Moses attention
It was a burning flame that was not consumed.
It wasn’t a rain shower that woke the children of Israel up
It was thunder and lighting and fire on the mountain.
There are a lot of people in the modern church today who just sit in the middle
On the fence.
Not fully committed.
You must make faith a priority in your life.
Since I have talked about the back row people and the middle row people
I want to also talk about front row people.
Why are the front rows in most churches empty?
There is nothing like front row tickets to a Basketball game.
You are there right with the coaches
You are there right with the team.
You can see the clipboard as the coach draws the next play.
You can hear the coach as he yells words of motivation at the players (or words of correction)
If I go to a dinner play, If I go to a concert, If I go to my hero
I want the seats close to the action.
I want the good seats.
Exodus 19:17 Moses led them out from the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
They were on the front row to meet God.
No one would have dared stay back at camp or have stayed home on the Sunday they went to meet God.
Moses was a front row person.
Mary of Bethany was a front row person when she knelt and washed Jesus’ feet.
The church needs people who will be front row people.
The church needs people who will set the tone.
You have to have something before you can offer it to someone else
You have to believe in something before you can lead someone else to believe in it also.
There is a holy responsibility that goes along with belonging to a church as a member.
When the front row is filled with leaders it is very encouraging.
When the worship starts and the people in front stand up.
The people in the middle and the back are also more likely to stand up.
You set the tone.
You are a leader who leads by example
Even the most holy of people need Christ.
Wesley’s definition of Christian perfection boils down to this...
....it is our conscious knowledge of our sin and brokenness....
How many of the Ten Commandments have you broken?
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48
Paul had been a Pharisee
His righteousness was in keeping the law
but not in keeping the spirit of what was morally right or morally wrong.
Paul had done everything evil he could to persecute the Church of Jesus Christ....
they even brought the clothes of Stephen and laid them at Paul’s feet
After they had stoned Stephen to death for believing in Jesus.
Paul did not kill Stephen himself
but Paul wrote a letter consenting to the death of Christians.
Did Paul break the sixth commandment?
Let’s go one step deeper in understanding the Covenant created when God gave the Ten Commandments.
When Moses and the people of Israel were at the foot of the Mountain
God asked Moses to bring up another from the crowd who would stand up for God.
In the crowd was a man from the tribe of Levi whose name was Aaron.
Aaron is certainly one of the front row people.
Aaron would become the high priest who would lead others in the act of worship.
God was formulizing a holy covenant with his People.
God expresses the universal mission: You are a “Kingdom of Priests” a “holy nation” here in Exodus 19:6.
Aaron becomes the first Ministerial Priest
Aaron becomes ordained of God.
A person who is ordained is called to serve the church
through administering the sacraments in the congregations.
An ordained pastor has the function of order in the church.
It is not to control the rest of the congregation
but so that the church they serve can be organized and fully function.
The ministers are ordained as “priests”
to train all the members of the church how to discover the true meaning of the “Priesthood of all believers”
discovering their gifts in order to minister fully as a lay priesthood.
One of the reasons the church will grow is that the members are committed to active service.
The members discover their gifts and then learn to use those gifts in service.
When you are conscience of the gifts and the role that God has for you then the Kingdom will grow.
While it began in the Covenant relationship of Exodus.
It is fully realized when men and women are filled with the Holy Spirit
And realize all people are called to this Exodus mission the “misseo dei” of God.
All of us are called into the Divine Mission of God.
It is no longer that we say, “I got to go to church…, It is…, I get to go to church.”
I get to praise Worship God.
I get to be in church.
When you come to church with this kind of attitude
Then you will be ready for the next level your spiritual training.
Have you discovered what it means to be called of God a believer?
It took Israel 40 years of wondering in the wilderness before they ever got it.
And the truth is many of them died, including Moses
Before the people learned and grew enough in their faith and understanding
Of what it meant to follow the Ten Commandments and be in a Covenant Relationship with God.
Where are you in your Covenant Relationship with God?
Closing: The Ten Commandments are like a mirror.
They show us who we are and how we need to be cleaned up and ready before the Day of Judgment.
That is the Day that we will meet God.
God doesn’t want to punish people who have broken the Ten Commandments.
To show you what a wonderful thing God did, think about this short story.
A man had a son who was really bad.
He did many bad things, including lying and stealing and found himself in trouble with the police.
They said he had to pay a $Million dollar fine or go to prison.
The son didn't have any money and he was completely broke and was about to go to prison.
We are like that son.
But God came down to earth and paid our fine by dying on the Cross.
Jesus took our punishment on Himself.
Then He died.
That means that we don't have to be punished of God when we break the Ten Commandments.
When you break any one or all of the Ten Commandments that’s called sin.
And sin cannot go unpunished.
Jesus died to take our punishment upon himself.
But Jesus did not stay dead.
We can be forgiven.
The law and Ten Commandments have always been part of God’s plan called Grace.
This also shows us how much God loves us.
