Ten Words, Two Commands (Part 2)

Intro: Funny sayings to make a point

Flies-honey; Come here and give me some sugar

John 17:22 NASB95

“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;

What Do We Do With the 10 Words?

“So that you may not sin”

1) Understand Proper Fear (READ Ex. 20:21)

Response to meeting God, hearing Him, understanding His expectations, vv18-19

Proper fear is a guiding mechanism

Proper fear prompts worship - and worship shows in life

(their altar, we’ll talk that later)

The closer a sinner comes to God, the more difficult it is for the sinner to survive His holiness - This is big

This is proper fear - know what I fear? Truly? I fear disappointing the LORD

Believers need this conviction

As pastor, husband, father, friend, co-worker, employee, disciple, etc.

It’s healthy, daunting, serious.

At Sinai, God came with thunder, trembling ground - made impression

For us - Holy Spirit comes, gently, inviting manner - not forced, not overpowering

But it’s no less a command to repent and trust Christ, receive the H.S. - we can be lax, and quench the spirit, and refuse to allow Him to work

2) The Greatest Word/Command?

Jesus was challenged - Matthew 22:37-40

The first one = the first 4 - LOVE GOD

Vertical relationship - with God

Look up, not around - this is key to the rest

Matt. 19 - the rich young ruler was missing this part

3) The Next-Greatest

Jesus offers this, as a bonus - love your neighbor as yourself

These are the next six, #s 5-10

Horizontal - our relationship to others

It is assumed that you love yourself - no such thing as “I need to love myself first, before I can love someone else”

WRONG! You need to love GOD first, then you can love others

REM: The point of the commandments is to show us that we need our Savior!

Jesus expands on these, Matthew 5:21, 27, 43

(You have heard…but I say…) = you’ve been taught what man says about these commands, but Jesus...

ALSO: We see from the commandments that we need each other!!

We need the horizontal relationships, and they need to be unified by our vertical.

CAN’T take care of the horizontal if the vertical is wrong

Trouble with others? Check your vertical

Trouble with loving God? It’ll show in horiz. relationships

Proper fear prompts worship - and worship shows in how we relate both to God and to others...

10 Words - not to hold God in some honor, but as a proper, fearful guide

TO LEAD TO REPENTANCE (James 2:10)

proper relation to God

TO LOVE THE BROTHER/SISTER

proper relation to others

UNITY

A) What do we have in common? We need our Savior!

We all sin, and sin is against God, and it tends to come out against each other

Take inventory, have you offended anyone, even if unintentionally?

Go to him/her, ask forgiveness, realize we are all sinners, saved by grace

Realize the effect we have toward each other (statements, social media posts, disagreements)

B) So what? (My own thoughts)

Command #1 - unity with God

Command #2 - unity with others

NOW - POINTS

When we allow strife - we allow disunity

When we allow sin - we allow disunity

When we disrespect each other, or put ourselves before others, we allow disunity

BUT...

When we think of others first - we allow unity

When we forgive and ask forgiveness - we allow unity

When we come together as a church, and say Christ is more important than all this other stuff - UNITY - Recall John 17

C) ESSENTIAL - this word gets thrown around a lot

Let me settle something - the church is essential, that should never be a question we have to even debate

Not based on a governor, or president

The church is not non-essential because a governor says so

The church is not essential because a president says so

The church IS ESSENTIAL because God says so, because it’s HIS plan to affect the world

Ever read ACTS? Do it!

We have much to get done, and it takes unity to do it.

D) Cornerstone’s Unity - our very survival

I have to be right, correct, in Bible matters, truth, doctrine

I am given the task of leading us in that truth

Giving us all opportunity to be unified in God and each other

I have personal thoughts (COVID-19, government, church, etc.)

I have spoken on over-reach, and I believe there likely has been

Some agree, some don’t - OK - Now what?

We meet outside today - weather and togetherness

Some decide to stay home and wait for safer days

Some decide to come no matter what

Some may decide to come if we are outside

This national and state crisis has seriously affected us, the church, this church

I’ll keep my deeply personal thoughts to myself

BUT THIS I KNOW

We are the church, and the church needs unity

And I don’t really care about my personal views, because I KNOW the church is more important! The church is more important!

Satan wants to destroy or disrupt church unity

And I won’t stand for it? What about you?

SERIOUS:

If we allow ourselves to let disagreements lead to disrespect of God-appointed leaders and fellow believers, then we never have to worry about the government harming us, because we’ll do it for them.

If we have a hard time respecting each other and showing others that the church is not unified in Christ, then it doesn’t matter what our government does or does not do, our church will not survive anyway.

From here on, I plan on our services being in the building, sensibly, responsibly

(we’ve been having mid-week studies, and Friday mornings will re-start)

Those who have a strong desire to come need to be patient with those who want to wait

Those who want to wait need to be patient with those who have a strong desire to come

And those who are unsure? Talk to me, I’ll try to help you figure out your options.

I’ll be here - I know you will be, too, in your own time. I pray that the church, THIS church, is essential for you.

10 Words - 2 Commands

Love God

Love each other

LOVE - full devotion, checking your own interests for the sake of surrender to the Lord and serving each other

Check our vertical

Check our horizontal

We need God, that’s His plan

We need each other, that’s His plan

You in?