Made Right to Live Right
Introduction
I know some of you might have a hard time with it, but I really kind of enjoy living alone. Especially after being a middle-aged dorm student when I was in seminary. But there is one thing that I don¡¦t like. I can¡¦t blame anything on anybody. I mean, I have the dog, but there¡¦s a limit to what I can blame on her.
If the kitchen is a mess, I can¡¦t storm in self-righteously and mutter under my breath about how I¡¦m the ONLY ONE who ever cleans up around here.
I can¡¦t look at the dog and say, ¡§Would it KILL you to refill the ICE TRAYS after you¡¦ve used up the ice? Would you like me to TEACH you how to put on a new roll of toilet paper?¡¨
Except for bones and toys all over the floor, I just have to take ALL the blame for everything.
And I HATE that! I HATE admitting my flaws and failings.
For the last eleven weeks (not counting my vacation) we¡¦ve been studying the 10 Commandments. I don¡¦t know about you, but I¡¦ve had to see a LOT of my flaws, failings, and honestly, my sin during this series.
Before we leave the 10 Commandments behind, I wanted to review them and revisit just how they fit into a Christian¡¦s life.
Review of the Ten Commandments
1st ¡V There is only One God
And that is the God revealed in the Scriptures
And He is to take first place in our lives.
Have you ever given any one or any thing besides God first place in your life? (I have)
Then we¡¦ve failed to keep the first commandment.
2nd ¡V No idols ¡V no ¡§graven images¡¨ of God
Although we can never have a complete understanding of who God is, we need to constantly be on guard against having a twisted view of Him
We need to be growing in our knowledge of the Scriptures and our relationship with God so that we won¡¦t have twisted images of God in our minds and hearts.
Have you sought continuously to grow in your knowledge of God and understanding of Scripture?
I haven¡¦t
So we¡¦ve failed to keep the second commandment
3rd ¡V Honor God¡¦s Name
Certainly this includes what comes out of our mouth
God¡¦s name should not be used for cursing or even used lightly ¡V ¡§Oh my GAWWD!!¡¨
But even more serious is the fact that as Christians we ¡§wear¡¨ God¡¦s name.
Non-believers judge our God by our behavior.
Has your behavior ever brought shame to God¡¦s name?
Mine has
Then we have failed to keep the third commandment.
4th ¡V Keep the Sabbath Holy
We saw how the Sabbath was given for a couple of reasons.
The most important one was that it gave us a picture of the way salvation came through Christ;
By NOT working.
Our salvation is a free gift to all who believe.
By keeping the Sabbath, we remember that we are not saved by OUR work, but through Christ¡¦s work on the cross.
By keeping the Sabbath as a day of rest and worship, we also give witness to our faith in God¡¦s care and provision in our lives as well as the importance of worship.
Have you ever trusted in yourself (or in anyone or anything else) when you should have been trusting God?
I sure have!
Then we¡¦re guilty of breaking the 4th commandment.
5th ¡V Honor your father & mother
We don¡¦t really have to review much here, do we?
Is there anybody here who has NEVER dishonored either of their parents?
Not me.
So we¡¦re all guilty of breaking the 5th commandment
6th ¡V Don¡¦t Murder
Once we get to these, we start feeling better, right?
But as we talked about, keeping this commandment doesn¡¦t just mean not physically killing someone.
Jesus said we¡¦re guilty of murder if we¡¦re angry with someone or if we call somebody an idiot.
And the positive side of this means that we protect and promote human life and health in every way possible.
I don¡¦t know about you, but I¡¦ve broken the 6th commandment
7th ¡V Don¡¦t commit adultery
Again Jesus said that anyone who has had lust in his or her heart is guilty of adultery.
And the positive side of this is faithfulness, especially in our marriage relationships, but in other humna relationships ¡V and also in our relationship with God.
I¡¦m not married, but I¡¦ve let God and other people down plenty of times.
In that way, I¡¦ve been unfaithful, and I¡¦m guilty of breaking the 7th commandment.
8th ¡V Don¡¦t steal
When I preached on stealing, I listed a number of ways of stealing that have become increasingly popular:
Cheating & Plagiarism
Stealing in the Work Place ¡V from swiping office supplies or wasting time at work to embezzlement
Insurance Fraud ¡V bending your claim for maximum benefits
Shoplifting
Tax fraud & evasion
Corporate Fraud
The Old Testament book of Malachi accuses the God¡¦s people of stealing from HIM when they fail to give their tithes to God.
Anybody guilty of breaking the 8th commandment?
I am.
9th ¡V Don¡¦t lie or give false witness against your neighbor.
This is another one that probably doesn¡¦t need a lot of discussion.
Have you ever lied? Have you ever gossiped?
We¡¦re all guilty of breaking the 9th commandment
10th ¡V Don¡¦t covet
Anybody here who hasn¡¦t been jealous of their neighbor¡¦s stuff or their job or their house or car or whatever?
Anybody here ever put a higher value on material things than on the Kingdom of God?
I have.
So we¡¦re all guilty of breaking the 10th commandment.
ƒá Now that we¡¦ve taken the test, it¡¦s time to grade it, to see how you did.
First, is there anybody who got 100% right?
Anybody who has always kept all 10 Commandments? (Don¡¦t be shy!)
Anybody confident that they¡¦ve kept even ONE of them perfectly?
MAN! We have a church full of lousy sinners!
And not only that YOUR PASTOR is a lousy sinner!!!
Ok, I¡¦ve got the scores figured out: everybody gets a zero.
¡§What? A ZERO?!?! But I kept some of the Commandments some of the time!¡¨
James 2:10 ¡Kwhoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. (NIV)
So here we are ¡V ALL lawbreakers.
When we stand before God, what will be our defense?
Some of you would get away with an insanity plea, but that won¡¦t work for all of us.
I saw the very end of some show or movie yesterday.
I have no idea what it was, but it was a courtroom scene.
Martin Sheen was the judge.
I tuned in to hear the defense attorneys asking for mercy for the defendant because he had been a Marine Sergeant, had served his country in Vietnam.
Sheen responded by saying he had served in the Marines in WWII (which, as a jab to the young defendant, he called ¡§a REAL war¡¨) and didn¡¦t see that as an excuse for criminal behavior.
His anger increasing, he said that the young man¡¦s actions ¡V which had ended the lives of several people ¡V indicated he had forgotten any notions of dignity and honor he would¡¦ve learned in the Marines.
He then sentences the young man to 15 years to life.
His mother starts to cry
The man is at first expressionless, then starts saying, ¡§What¡¦s this ¡¥life¡¦? What do you mean ¡¥life¡¦?¡¨ He starts shouting, picks up a heavy wooden chair and flings it effortlessly, barely missing the judge.
The guards subdue him and drag him off.
What would happen if you were on trial for breaking the 10 Commandments?
Unless somebody¡¦s holding out, we¡¦ve all agreed we¡¦ve broken most, and probably ALL of them.
No one scored 100% ¡V
And James tells us that if we¡¦ve broken any law, we¡¦re guilty, and then we¡¦re in trouble.
If you haven¡¦t grasped the implications of that, let me spell it out: sin brings separation from God.
The only place where we can be separated from God is Hell
Unless we can keep God¡¦s Laws 100% of the time, we are under the wrath and condemnation of God.
So, is that it? Is there no way to be put right with God?
If you¡¦re feeling like that, then you¡¦re ready to hear about grace:
GNB Romans 1:17 For the gospel reveals how God puts people right with himself: it is through faith from beginning to end. As the scripture says, ¡§The person who is put right with God through faith shall live.¡¨
We¡¦ve heard this SO many times, but can you begin to get a feel for how radical this is? How truly Amazing is God¡¦s Grace?
I had a friend who used to say, ¡§You¡¦ll never understand the good news unless you understand the bad news.¡¨
The bad news is
whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
The bad news is
the wages of sin is death
But the GOOD news is that
the gospel reveals how God puts people right with himself: it is through faith from beginning to end. As the scripture says, ¡§The person who is put right with God through faith shall live.¡¨
When Jesus went to the cross, it was as if, in that court scene I described, Martin Sheen declared the sentence, and then, just as the defendant was dragged away, Sheen would step down from His bench, take off his judge¡¦s robe, tell the security guards to let the young man go and take him away instead.
It isn¡¦t that the judge looked the other way and just declared the man innocent.
He was declared guilty ¡V but his sentence was fulfilled by another, and so he was just as free as if he HAD been innocent.
One would hope, in the face of such a gift, he wouldn¡¦t squander his second chance at life by getting involved in crime again.
Imagine what a slap in the face it would be to do that.
It would be like rejecting that incredible gift altogether.
In studying the 10 Commandments, the goal has never been to find out what we have to do to go to heaven.
And it¡¦s a good thing, because if we had to fulfill these commandments perfectly, then none of us would be going there.
Our goal has been to learn how to live IN LIGHT OF the truth of God¡¦s Grace.
Conclusion
This is a true story. Two guys in a church, Paul and William decided that they really wanted to become godly men. So they started meeting with one another to pray and encourage one another; they even set goals for themselves and their behavior, and then were accountable to the other one.
Paul decided he wanted to break his habit of using profanity. He decided he was going to put FIVE DOLLARS in the offering for every time he swore during the week. In order to stay accountable, he would tell William how many times he¡¦d failed.
The first week cost Paul $100.
Now, Paul must¡¦ve been doing ok financially, because that didn¡¦t stop his swearing. In fact, while he improved somewhat over the next couple weeks, he really wasn¡¦t having the success he wanted and was losing a lot of hard-earned cash.
After the fourth week, William told Paul he had decided that the deal needed to be changed for the coming week, but he wasn¡¦t going to tell Paul how it would change. He just said, ¡§Trust me. It will cost you both less and more.¡¨
When they met the following Sunday before worship, Paul admitted he¡¦d failed again. William put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Paul, I told you this was going to cost you both less and more. It’s called grace."
William took out his checkbook, and made out a check to the church, leaving the amount blank.
He gave the check to Paul and said, ¡§Your sin still costs ¡V but for you it’s free. Just fill in the numbers. And next week there will be more grace."
William¡¦s grace cost him $55 the first week; the second only cost him $20. There was no third week. Paul couldn¡¦t bear to see what his sin was costing his friend, so he quit sinning.
Jesus made us right with God so we would live rightly before God.
Trying to obey the 10 Commandments is not what we do to be saved.
Trying to obey the 10 Commandments is what we do if we are truly saved.
If we understand what Christ has done for us on the cross, we will recognize that we have been MADE RIGHT before God, so that we might LIVE RIGHT before him.
If you honestly want to increase your love for God, ask Him to show you your sinfulness.
Because then you¡¦ll see how much you¡¦ve been forgiven.
When you see how much you needed Christ to be MADE RIGHT, you will love Him enough to desire to LIVE RIGHT.
