The Ten Commandments – Exodus 20:3-18
1. Aim: To lead the people to understand the meaning and importance of obeying the Ten Commandments.
Illustration;Peter T. Forsythe was right when he said, "The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master".
Warren W. Wiersbe, The Integrity Crisis, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, p. 22.
2. Explanation of the Aim: God gave the people of Israel the Ten Commandments to lead them in a life of practical holiness. Through the Ten Commandments people could see the nature of God and his plan for how they should live. As New Testament Christians we are no longer under the law, but grace. Still, we should seek to obey the commands of God because they give us clarity about the Lord’s will for our lives.
3. The Bible Story: The Ten Commandments were given as guidelines for how God expects individuals, families and societies to conduct themselves. Only the Lord knows the best ways for people to operate if they expect to receive His blessings. When we follow the commands of God we are able to show great love, respect and service to one another despite the problems of everyday life. In our lesson the people should learn the meaning and importance of each commandment to help them obey God’s will. Help the people to see that obeying God’s commands is not just so He will protect and prosper us, but as a means of pleasing the Lord. Remind the people that Jesus said, “Whoever has my commands and keep them, he is the one who loves me.” (John 14:21)
4. Help the people consider what are some of the advantages of knowing the Ten Commandments.
Can anyone quote all ten of the Ten Commandments and explain their meanings?
Ask the people what is means when the Pastor says, “We are no longer under law, but grace?”
5. The BIBLE STORY teaches the people the basic meaning and importance of each of the Ten Commandments so they may obey all of God’s commands.
6. What do you think God means when He said, “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God will give you.” Find out why it is important to keep the commands of God out of a desire to express our love for God rather than to get a reward? Why do some people see the keeping of the law an end in itself rather than a means to expressing our love for the Lord?
6. Consider what are some of the advantages of knowing the Ten Commandments. Ask the people if they can say any of the Ten Commandments and explain its meaning? Ask the people what is means when the Pastor says, “We are no longer under law, but grace?”
7. God gave the Ten Commandments as a way of helping people lead a life of practical holiness. The law of God is given as an insight into the holiness, truth and love of God for man. Mature believers delight to obey the commands of God as way of expressing their love for their heavenly Father. God is not simply interested in outward obedience, but love from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith. His commands give us guidelines to know the ways that we can please the Lord and bear fruit in every good work as we increase in the knowledge of Him.
8. People who try to obey God out of a mere sense of obligation end up becoming legalistic or hypocritical. New Testament Christians realize that it is impossible to keep the whole law of God without the empowering of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. James wrote, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” Sins of commission (Lying, stealing, cheating etc), sins of omission (failure to do what we ought to do), sins of wrong attitudes (hating, judging one another) or sins of faulty assumptions (prejudices, patronizing assumptions etc), are all ways of failing to live up to the holy character of Christ likeness. Whether in the heart or the conduct, in thought, word, or deed, to omit or to vary any thing, is sin, and the wages of sin is death. Without Christ we would all be headed for hell, but He makes us righteous through the justification gained by our saving faith.
9. The first four of the Ten Commandments tell about our duty to God. It is important that we learn to love the Lord more than we love our neighbor, as He deserves our greatest affection. It cannot be expected that he should be true to his brother, who is false to his God. The first commandment concerns the person of Jehovah and only him. Worshipping the Lord is our number one priority. The worship of creatures is forbidden. Whatever comes short of perfect love, gratitude, reverence, or worship, breaks this commandment. Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
10. The second commandment refers to the worship we are to render to the Lord our God. It is forbidden to make any image or picture of the Deity, in any form, or for any purpose; or to worship any creature, image, or picture. God forbids all kinds of idols including possessions, people and any other gods beside the Almighty. Man is incurable religious so he may have a tendency to invent his own gods as seen in many traditional religions.
11. The third commandment concerns the manner of worship so we worship with reverence and sincerity. All false oaths are forbidden. The Lord does not allow any profane cursing or misuse of His holy name. God will not overlook those who take His name in vain.
12. The fourth commandment told the people that they only needed to remember what they had been told to do before about keeping the Sabbath holy. God allots six days for worldly business, but not so as to neglect the service of God, and the care of our souls. On those days we must do all our work, and leave none to be done on the Sabbath day. Christ allowed works of necessity, charity, and piety. Yet, Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27) It is clear that works of luxury, vanity, or self-indulgence in any form, are forbidden. Trading, paying wages, settling accounts would also be included.
13. The Sabbath of the Lord should be a day of rest from worldly labor, and a rest in the service of God. There are many advantages in keeping this holy day. It provides greater health, happiness and balance in caring for our whole being. People who fail to follow God’s formula of working six days and setting aside a day for the worship rest of God will pay in numerous ways.
14. The laws of the second table, that is, the last six of the Ten Commandments, state our duty to ourselves and to one another, and explain the great commandment, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27) Godliness and honesty must go together. The fifth commandment concerns the duties we owe to our relations. Honor your father and mother, includes esteem of them, shown in our conduct; obedience to their lawful commands; come when they call you, go where they send you, do what they bid you, refrain from what they forbid you; and this, as people, cheerfully, and from a principle of love. Submission to their counsel and corrections is necessary to please God. Strive to comfort your family and friends and to make their old age easy. If they need support do all that you can to help them maintain a healthy lifestyle. People are a blessing to the their parents can expect to receive blessings. However, people who bring vexation to their parents will be reciprocated in kind.
15. The sixth commandment teaches us how to regard the life and the safety of others as we do our own. Magistrates and their officers, and witnesses testifying the truth, should not break this command. Self-defense is lawful, but we must be careful not to do anything that would cause intentional harm to another. Anger is no excuse for violence neither is revenge. All fighting, whether for wages, for renown, or out of anger and malice, breaks this command, and the result is murder. Do not be guilty of tempting people to sin or commit crimes that inevitably shorten and lessen the quality of life. Be careful of committing any kind of misconduct toward a relative, parents, wives or people. This command forbids all envy, malice, hatred, or anger, all provoking or insulting language. Suicide of all types is here forbidden. This commandment requires a spirit of kindness, longsuffering, and forgiveness.
16. The seventh commandment concerns purity. We should be as much afraid of that which defiles the body, as of that which destroys it. Whatever tends to pollute the imagination, or to raise the passions, falls under this law, as impure pictures, books, conversation, or any other like matters.
17. The eighth commandment is the law of love as it respects the property of others. The portion of worldly things given to us, as far as it is obtained in an honest way, is the bread that God has given us. Let us be thankful, contented and use all things in a lawful way. Remember that everything you have is a trust given to you for a while by the Creator. Do not try to take advantage of others laziness, ignorance or naivete for your selfish interests. Exercise justice in all your dealings. Do not defraud anyone for any deceitful reason. Fulfill your contracts and pay your debts. Do not try to evade payments of what you owe others except to love them as Christ loves us. Do not try to live in extravagance or try to live on charity when it is not absolutely necessary. God is the judge of everyone at all times
19. Do not try to squeeze the poor out of their just wages. Those who do break the eighth commandment that calls for industriousness, frugality and contentment with what we have. Remember the golden rule given to us by Jesus who said, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
20. The ninth commandment urges us to avoid any slander against one’s neighbor. Do not speak falsely on any matter, lying, equivocating, and any way devising or designing to deceive our neighbor. Do not speak unjustly against your neighbor so as to hurt their reputation. Speaking unjustly against ones’ neighbor hurt your own reputation. Avoid giving false witness against another in common conversation slandering, backbiting, and tale-bearing. Do not try to raise your own reputation at the expense of another’s good name. Perhaps, this command is broken more than most of the others combined. The tenth commandment strikes at the root cause of most sin – covetousness. While the other commands forbids doing harm to others, this commands forbids all wrong desire of having what will gratify ourself.
20. God’s word in Christ is the future basis of all judgment. Do not think you can evade it or use it to compare yourself to others. We are all guilty when judged by the law of God. Why would anyone not accept the free gift of salvation given by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ knowing that the law is a standard no one can keep 100% of the time? The knowledge of the law shows our need of repentance. In every believer’s heart sin is dethroned and crucified, the law of God is re-written in the image of Christ their Savior and Lord. Allow the Holy Spirit to enable you to hate sin and flee from it. Ask God to help you love and keep this law in sincerity and truth with a contrite and humble heart. As you do God will bless, multiply and enable you to accomplish His great purposes in and through you.
Memory Verse: Jesus said, “The whole law and the words of the prophets is summarized by the commandment, you shall love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself. (Matt 11:13)
Why do some people see the keeping of the law an end in itself rather than a means to expressing our love for the Lord?
Response:
Song: Keep my commandments and live.
Prayer: Ask the Lord to help you to keep the commandments out of love for God instead of out of a begrudging sense of obligation.
At Home: Ask your family and friends what motivates them to keep God’s commandments?
Conclusion:"It is the impassioned pleading of a quiet little Scottish lady that linked my life with the Soudan," wrote Rowland Bingham (a founder of S.I.M.). "In the quietness of her parlor she told how God had called a daughter to China, and her eldest boy (Walter Gowans) to the Soudan.
"She spread out before me the vast extent of those thousands of miles and filled in the teeming masses of people. Ere I closed the interview she had place upon me the burden of the Soudan."
A year and a half later Bingham returned to Canada, alone. Walter and Thomas Kent lay buried in Nigeria’s interior. "I visited Mrs. Gowans to take her the few personal belongings of her son," he recalled. "She met me with extended hand. We stood there in silence.
"Then she said these words: ’Well, Mr. Bingham, I would rather have had Walter go out to the Soudan and die there, all alone, that have him home today, disobeying his Lord.’"
Our success in this venture means nothing less than the opening of the country for the gospel; our failure, at most, nothing more than the death of two or three deluded fanatics. Still, even death is not failure. His purposes are accomplished. He uses deaths as well as lives in the furtherance of His cause.
Rowland Bingham, a founder of SIM.
