TENTH COMMANDMENT...

“You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbour."

 

'Covet' is an inordinate desire to possess what belongs to another, usually tangible things. Coveting is not just wanting something, but it is wanting something at the expense of another. If we are focused on something another owns and we are consumed with getting it, we most likely will not love that neighbour.  In Matthew 6:19-21 Jesus reminds us that where ever our treasure, there our heart will be also.

Ultimately being a covetous person will lead to your personal destruction. Coveting is something that can destroy you from the inside out. Remember that God will NEVER bless ill gotten gains. He will NEVER bless relationships that are hatched out of covetousness nor will He bless us materially. Place your faith and contentment in Jesus and you will experience joy beyond belief!

NINTH COMMANDMENT....

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour”

God’s will is that :

I never give false testimony against anyone,

twist no one’s words,

not gossip or slander,

nor join in condemning anyone

without a hearing or without a just cause...

Rather, in court and everywhere else,

I should avoid lying and deceit of every kind;

these are devices the devil himself uses,

and they would call down on me God’s intense anger.

I should love the truth,

speak it candidly,

and openly acknowledge it.

And I should do what I can

to guard and advance my neighbour’s good name...

EIGHTH COMMANDMENT....

" You shall not steal..."

HOW DOES GOD WANT US TO GET STUFF?
1. Work- “Let him that stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something good” (Eph. 4:28)

2. Invest- “Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them. His lord said to him, well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matt. 25: 20,21)

HOW CAN A PERSON STEAL?
1. Theft

2. Robbery (“A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him . . leaving him half dead” - Luke 10:30)

3. Seizure- Using without permission

4. Deceit (“The Lord hates dishonest scales and dishonest weights” - Prov. 20:23)

5.  Defraud- To deprive of something by deception

 

SEVENTH COMMANDMENT....

Adultery breaks every other commandment.

• Adultery is stealing.
• It steals the love from another.
• It steals someone's wife away.
• It is taking Love that does not belong to you.
• Adultery destroys trust.
• Adultery is a living lie. It is done without the knowledge of the spouse.
• Adultery is Coveting someone who does not belong to you.
• Adultery is the supreme example of Selfishness.

SIXTH COMMANDMENT.....

YOU SHALL NOT MURDER....

First, the sixth commandment forbids murder.No matter the wrong, we do not have the authority to track down those who have hurt us, and kill them. That power is entrusted solely to civil authorities.

Second, the sixth commandment forbids abortion. Abortion is the unlawful killing of innocent human life. Here is a letter from 1st B.C. written by a businessman, Hilarion, to his pregnant wife, Alis; “Know that I am still in Alexandria. And do not worry if they all come back and I remain in Alexandria. I ask and beg you to take good care of our baby son, and as soon as I receive payment I shall send it up to you. If you are delivered of a child [before I come home], if it is a boy keep it, if a girl discard it. You have sent me word, ‘Don’t forget me.’ How can I forget you. I beg you not to worry.”Abortion was a major cause of death among women. Ingested poisons produced miscarriage and  also frequently led to the death of the mother.

 

Third, the sixth commandment forbids euthanasia - so-called mercy-killings. Euthanasia is always a sin. We are never to kill the elderly, or the handicapped, or the terminally ill. No person has the right to determine that another life is without value. The intrinsic value of a person’s life does not come from what he does, but from who he is, and he is an image bearer of God.

Fourth, the sixth commandment forbids suicide. Just as we must not unlawfully take the life of another, so we must not take our own life.

Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Choose Christ, and choose life. God Bless!

FIFTH COMMANDMENT.....

HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.....



The Hebrew word behind the English honor is kaved; kaved carries the idea of weightiness, so we are to give weight to our parents. We might say it like this, ‘You should give your parents a ton of respect!’ This is the duty of every child and it sets the pattern for how that child will relate to every other authority structure in life. Children do not come out of the womb honoring their parents. Rather, Scripture teaches us that we are born in sin and in our sin we will be automatic rebels against our parents. But parents are given by God to children to serve as His lieutenants and honoring father and mother is the foundation that prepares little hearts to honor God.

What was Jesus doing as a child, and as a teenager and as a young adult, making clay pigeons to fly? No, he was fulfilling the 5th commandment, honoring his father and mother, his imperfect and sinful father and mother. He was obeying them and honoring them perfectly. Christ fulfilled the 5th commandment all the way to the cross where even as he died he was caring for his mother by giving her, as it were, to John.

Christ kept the 5th commandment so that He died on the cross he could bear the penalty for sins of every disobedient little child and every rebellious teenager and every selfish adult who would believe in Him.

God Bless!

FOURTH COMMANDMENT.....

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy"

 

 

The Sabbath is much more than a weekly day of rest. It is the one day each week that we devote totally to God, and thus it is a good regulator and barometer of our relationship with Him. Do you know the Mars bar advertisement? “A Mars a day helps you work, rest, and play!”—That was smart, because the advertisers knew that we all value those things. And some of us are much better in one of these areas than in others. Are you a good worker? Do you love your work? Are you committed to it?

 

This is from the internet...

 

IN PRISON—You spend the majority of your time in a 10×10 cell.
AT WORK—You spend the majority of your time in an 8×8 cubicle.

IN PRISON—You get time off for good behavior.
AT WORK—You get more work for good behavior.

IN PRISON—They allow your family and friends to visit.
AT WORK—You aren’t even supposed to speak to your family.

IN PRISON—You must deal with sadistic wardens.
AT WORK—They are called managers.

Are you a workaholic?

What does this commandment mean?

To keep one day each week special to remember God and to rest. But notice that it also says to work hard for six days! If God could take a rest, so can you! God is God and you are not. Rest reminds us we are not indispensable, and whenever we sleep the world goes on just fine without us!

We are:

SALT—to make our workplace less rotten!
LIGHT—to show Gods glory.
YEAST—to quietly infiltrate and multiply.

Everyday is a Sabbath day for the Christian—separated to God, for worship, and to rest from our labors.

THIRD COMMANDMENT...



"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name"





This commandment deals with the way we worship our God. We are to take our worship seriously. We shouldn’t come to worship as though we are going to a party or a picnic but to come with respect for our God. How would we react if we were going to visit the prime minster? When we come to God we must come with respect. There are a lot of people today who say things like “Oh God” in their conversation and this is using the name without proper respect.

What’s in a name? In Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet," Romeo asks that very question: What’s in a name? A rose by any other name still smells just as sweet." But names are far more important than Romeo would have us believe. The word "empty" or "vain" means to use the name in a "worthless" or "deceitful" way.

We’re like Tiger Woods once he signed his contract with Nike: now whenever Tiger Woods plays golf he carries the Nike logo with him. The people of Israel in the Old Testament carried the name Yahweh; God placed his name on them like a logo.
The New Testament reiterates this idea for Christians in 1 Peter 4:16, where it says, "However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name." If you’ve become a follower of Jesus Christ, you bear the name of Jesus-Yahweh saves.

The bottom line is this: As followers of Jesus Christ, we carry His name wherever we go and whatever we do. If we’re followers of Jesus, we don’t take off the uniform when we’re not in church, but we carry His logo-His name-with us wherever we go. Whenever we misrepresent God we violate the third commandment!!!

Second Commandment....

"You shall not make for yourself any graven image, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them..."

When God commands Israel not to make and worship a graven image of Himself, what He is commanding?

Do not conceive of Me like the rest of the nations conceive of their supreme god: the most powerful of all the invisible forces to be reckoned with, yet finite, limited, and just one of many influences in their lives.  Do not think of Me in such a way. I am not limited and finite. I am not one of many influences in your life; I am the one and only influence. No other forces in reality exist that are even relevant compared to me. I determine everything, control everything, create everything, cause everything.

Furthermore, nothing in the visible realm can adequately capture who I am and what I am like. In one sense, every visible thing reflects My nature and wisdom; for all of it is my handiwork. But in another sense, nothing in the visible realm is like Me; nothing can adequately represent who I am. I am too big to be understood in terms of any finite thing in the natural order. Do not, therefore, conceive of me as a God who can be represented in terms of one finite image. If you do so, then it will not be Me, you worship; it will be some other god of your own imagination. I am a jealous God. I, the all-powerful, transcendent God, am the One you must worship. You must not worship the shrunken deity of your imagination.

So think-  when you worship before man-created images or idols... Whom do you worship? God or Idol?

FIRST COMMANDMENT.....

The way someone looks at this commandment will dictate how they look at all the rest of the commandments.  If someone disregards this commandment, they will almost certainly disregard the rest of the commandments. 

What is “hidden” or “secret idolatry?”  It is loving anything more than God.  It is living your life for anything other than God.  It is permitting something in this world to sit on the throne of our heart instead of God.  Jesus says it very simply in the Sermon on the Mount. 

            For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  (Matthew 6:21) 

If God asked you to sacrifice your children for him, could you do it?  If God asked you to sacrifice your parents for him, could you do it?  If God asked you to sacrifice your spouse for him, could you do it? What about your bank account?  What about your job?  Your aspirations?  Your land?  Your house? If God asked you to give up your car or cars for him, could you do it? 

Remember the dog with the bone in his mouth who saw his reflection over deep water.  It looked to him like the other dog had a bigger bone, so he started to growl, but the other dog wouldn't give the bone.  He growled more fiercely, still no change.  Finally he snapped for the other bone, and his bone dropped into the deep water and disappeared.  The foolish dog lost his real bone for an illusion.  That's what happens when we get so caught up in the things of this world that we displace God in our lives.  We exchange the real God for an illusion!!!

 

Forgiveness of Sins

A missionary on one of the islands was sitting in his cool seaside hut one day when one of the village women came in, carrying a handful of dripping sand she had just picked up off the beach. "Do you know what this is?" she asked. "It looks like sand," said the missionary. "Do you know why I brought it here?" she asked. "No. I can't imagine why," he answered. "Well, these are my sins," the women explained. "My sins are as countless as the sands of the sea. How can I ever obtain forgiveness for all of them.?"

"You got that sand down by the shore, didn't you?" said the missionary. "Well, take it back there, and pile it up into a heaping mound of sand at the water's edge. Then you sit back and watch the tide come in and slowly wash away the pile altogether. That is how God's forgiveness works."...

In Isaiah 1:18 God says to the people: "Now, let's settle this matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool."

Miracle of Salvation

" For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life...." John 3:16

God's whole purpose in sending His Son was to give Him up to suffer and die. God's whole purpose in giving His Son was for the Son to suffer the punishment for our sins. Everyone who believes "shall not perish". It means hell and eternal death for those who do not believe!

Hallmark's Christmas cards say things like:

Joy to the World
Glory to God
Season's Greetings
Peace on Earth

 

You will never find a card that says- "Saved from Hell".

We need to know about hell. Only then will we know how to avoid it. Only then will we know how much God really loves us. Only then will we know what God has done for us in Christ. Only then will we know what Christ has saved us from. Only then will we realize why Christ has come.

Someone is dying and you don't tell them the cure. Is that showing comfort and love? Someone is lost and you don't give them directions. Is that showing comfort and love? Someone is drowning and you don't throw them a life-jacket. Is that showing comfort and love? Someone is in danger and you don't warn them? Is that showing comfort and love?

Jesus can save you, whoever you are. No matter what you have done, no matter how evil and godless you have been, no matter how richly you deserve hell. Whoever you are, you can be saved, if you – by grace – repent and believe.

Believe in Jesus. Trust Him today. And you will not perish in hell. Instead, you will have eternal life in heaven. Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for you!