THE 10 COMMANDMENTS (Overview)
Exodus 20:1-17
February 8, 1995
In an interview on January 16, 1995 issue of Newsweek, Cardinal Sin responds to a question in this manner; "You watch television: what is being discussed all the time is money, business. Nobody is talking about moral values, faith. Gone are those days. People do not care whether they are going against the Ten Commandments or not." I do not always agree with many of his views but in this I can give my hearty amen:"People do not care whether they are going against the Ten Commandments or not." One of the main reasons why godlessness is rampant as manifested in 2nd Timothy 3:1-5 is because most people have neglected the 10 Commandments. I don't think we Filipinos are far from the description made regarding Americans in this quotation from Michael S. Horton in the book, The Law of Perfect Freedom. (p.19):
The authors of The Day America Told the Truth have this to say.;
"It's the wild, wild West all over again in America, but its wilder. You are the law in this country. There is absolutely no moral consensus at all in the 1990s. Every one is making up their own personal moral codes - their own 10 commandments. Here are 10 extraordinary commandments for the 1990s. These are real commandments, the rules that many people actually live by.
I don't see the point in observing the Sabbath (77%)
I will steal from those who won't really miss it (74%)
I will lie when it suits me, so long as it doesn't cause any real damage (64%)
I will drink and drive if I feel that I can handle it. I know my limit. (56%)
I will cheat on my spouse - after all, given the chance, he or she will do the same (53%)
I will procrastinate at work and do absolutely nothing about one full day in every five. It's standard operating procedure (50%)
I will use recreational drugs. (41%)
I will cheat on my taxes - to a point (30%)
I will put my lover at risk of disease. I sleep around a bit, but who doesn't (31%)
Technically, I may have committed date rape, but I know that she wanted it. (20% have been date raped.)
It spite the fact that nearly all Americans say they believe in God, "the overwhelming majority of people (93%) said that they - and nobody else - determines what is and what is not moral in their lives. They base their decisions on their own experience, even on their daily whims
Let's be honest, today, who of us have memorized it? Who among us knows the complete ten? How many of us have heard a series of preaching on it? And why not when the book of Romans says that the reason why God's wrath is upon mankind is because of its disobedience to the 10 Commandments. (Romans 1:18; 2:12-15).
The Ten Commandments and Christians
Many of us Christians have forgotten our relationship to the Law of God. I do not understand how it came to be but I think, since people have become Christians they have become antinomians, and abusers of God's grace. How can that be when Titus 2:11-14 says otherwise. James 2:12 says, "Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom."
The Ten Commandments and Prayer
We have been talking about prayer but the greatest hindrance I think to most of our prayers today is our disobedience to the commands of God. (1 John 3:22)
The Ten Commandments and Revival
I was talking to one pastor recently who had been part of the revival in Davao during the 1980's. He was relating the way the Holy Spirit moved during the 80's and then a waning occurred. He then asked, what can be done to have the revival back.? I think the question should also be asked, "What is hindering our prayers?" Well I think one major answer is because we are not taking seriously the Ten Commandments. (2nd Chronicle 7:14; James 2:12; The Sermon on the Mount is an elaboration and clarification)
A GENERAL OVERVIEW
1. The Prologue
Exodus 20:1,2. Though it is not integral part of 10 Commandments it cannot be separated nor can it be taken lightly because it tells us that the source of the Decalogue is God and not man.
2. The Manner of the Giving of the Ten Commandments
"And God spoke" (Exodus 19:9, 16-19, 20:18-20)
3. The Source of the Ten Commandments
Who is this God? This is the God who said to Moses,"I am who I am"
a) He exists independently. He did not exist or presently exists or will continue to exist because of another. He is eternal - He does what He wants. He is sovereign.
b) He is the God who judges Egypt with its many gods in the 10 plagues He sends them. He is the one who shows that there is no other God but Him.
c) He is the God who delivers a nation from another strong nation. He split the Red Sea.. This God is the great provider, the Creator, the Preserver the Moral governor and possessor and sovereign Lord. Because He is the Lord of all, He has the right to command and require obedience to all His creatures.(Psalm 95:3 "For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods." Psalm 96:4,5 "For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.")
4. The Place of the Giving Of The Ten Commandments
In Mount Sinai. One Jewish scholar noted that the 10 Commandments was given in Mount Sinai and not in Palestine so that God may show that this command is not just for the Jews alone but for all men.
5. The Time of the Giving Of The Ten Commandments
"The giving of the Law was a time which precluded any thought of its having a human origin. Such a code of morals could not possibly have come out of Egyptian civilization, the world power, saturated with gross idolatry, nor from a race of Hebrew slaves who had mingled with the Egyptians.
6. The Character of the Ten Commandments
Psalm 19:7 "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul."
a) It is estimated that man has enacted more than 32 million laws in an effort to regulate human conduct, but he has never yet caught up with the Decalogue. The laws of man must be constantly changed, amended, or abrogated to keep legislation up to date. 30,000 new laws are enacted each year in the Federal and State legislatures of the U.S. In one bill Congress repealed more than one thousand old and out-of-date laws. The Decalogue is both brief and comprehensive, and was given in its written form 35 hundred years ago; yet it has never needed to be altered or even amended in the least particular. It is just as up to date and applicable to the needs of mankind today as when it came from the mouth and hand of the Eternal. This alone is enough to prove its divine origin.
b) One atheist once read the Books of Moses in order to prove them untrue. After reading the 10 Commandments he made this confession:"I have been looking into the nature of that law. I have been trying to see whether I could add anything to it, or take anything from it, so as to make it better. Sir, I cannot. It is perfect! Where did Moses obtain the Law, which surpasses the wisdom and philosophy of the most enlightened ages? He lived at a period comparatively barbarous; but he has given a law in which the learning and sagacity of all subsequent time can detect no flaw. Where did he obtain it? He could not have soared so far above his age as to have devised it himself. I am satisfied where he obtained it. It came down from heaven. It has convinced me of the truth of the religion of the Bible."
c) The 10 Commandment persist because they are moral axioms as fundamental in social order as are the axioms of mathematics in the physical sciences. The 10 Commandment are practical, adequate and binding today. They are all we need for modern morality. All our ills and evils are ultimately the price the modern man pays for denying and defying them."
d) No moral system every humanly formulated before or since can approach, much less equal, or excel, these ten words of God. For all time, human duty is condensed and declared with an authority which, in its divinity, can be neither surpassed nor supersedes.
7. The Divisions of the Ten Commandments
It is divinely divided into 2 parts. (a) First part - Man's duties toward his Creator (b) Second part - Man's duties toward his fellowmen. Someone said: "God and man, religion and morality, the sum of divine and human relationships, what God requires of man, what man owes to God, are all included."
A.The first 4 - related to duty to God (It is an expansion of the Lord's summary in Matt 22:37,38):
1. True object of worship and warning against false gods.
2. True means of worship Prohibits false forms of worship
3. The manner of worship Prohibits irreverence
4. The special time for worship Consecration of 7th day
B. The last 6 - related to duties to the fellowman. (It is an expansion of Matthew 22:39)
8. Purpose of the Ten Commandments
A. To all men in general.
This serves as revelation of the character and the will of God. A standard of moral excellence, and a rule for the regulation of action. (Romans 7:12, "the commandment is holy, righteous, and good."). Theoretically speaking, through obedience to the Law, you can get saved (Rom 2:7). On that basis there are some, when you ask them how they can be saved they answer without thinking,, "Obey the 10 Commandments" without considering its implications:
1. According to Romans 2:7 you if you want to be saved by the law, you need persistence in doing good. Always doing good. Perpetually doing good. Not just doing good today and then evil the next.
2. You have to obey them all perfectly. With pure motives, with good intentions, selfishly, all for the glory of God. [Romans 2:7, 1st Corinthians 8:9]
3. You must do them all, and not miss in one of them. You cannot choose which commands to follow and which to leave out. [James 2:10]
4. You help others as far as you are able to be able to obey it. [Romans 1:32, 1st Corinthians 8:9]
Since no unregenerated can do all that what is the purpose of the law for him.
1. Romans 7:7 it defines sin and convince sinners of its exceeding sinfulness.
2. To silence every mouth [Romans 3:19]
3. It is also to make the whole world accountable to God [Romans 3:9]
4. To make us conscious that we are sinners. The law is the weapon in the hands of the Holy Spirit by which men are convicted of sin.
5. The law is to lead us to Christ [Galatians 3:24]
B. To believers specifically.
1. The law continues to be indispensable as the instrument of the Holy Spirit for their sanctification, not justification [Roman 8:1,3]
2. It remains to them as the perfect standard of righteousness, to which their attitudes and actions ought to correspond.
3. It shows the extent of their obligation to Christ. How far they have fallen and how far more they should hold on to Christ to its attainment.
4. It continues to aid us to have a habit of humility because of conviction of sin, repentance and faith.
5. Its threats and blessings helps us to deter from sin and assure of grace training the souls to practice the doing of good until the Law of God become the spontaneous law of our spirits, and become the royal law of liberty, of which James speaks of.
6. Obedience to it will determine our rewards.
7. It is the way blessings are brought to others and God's name if glorified. [1st Peter 2:12]
Closing Words For Believers
1. Let us not think the law is done with (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:11-14; James 2:13).
2. Let us remember its connection with prayer (1 John 3:22).
3. Let's see its connection with the revival we are praying for (2 Chro 7:14).
