God's Love Written On Stone

Hey, Joe. Haha.

Oh really, that's a good time to tell him kind of warm. Anyway, probably warm up. Well good evening, you are here tonight. It's good to be back. In the Lord's House, we do this twice a week and I look forward to Wednesday night's. I know a lot of churches don't have service anymore on Wednesday night, but I just always thought that Wednesday night is a good. Get me through the week night, you know, when we come to church. So, So we're glad that you are here. I was going to tell everyone. We had some visitors, this past Sunday. If you remember the family, and I was in contact with him this week and the family, the set there in the back. He said that they really enjoyed the service and that they have as far as this coming Sunday, goes its going to be the last message on the church's even though we've already finished all the churches, I'm going to do one message on Revelation 4 and it's in the stalking about the church in heaven. What's the church going to be doing in heaven when the Rapture occurs? So I thought that would be a good final message in that and a couple of Wednesday night's, we're going to start doing our financial system. And on the second Sunday of October, we're going to start on Sunday morning, a new series on finances as well. So they all kind of work together on Sunday, morning, and Wednesday night. So you being you being prayer for that. We hadn't talked about finances and money. At least I haven't here while I've been here. At new Grace but the Bible speaks a whole lot about money and what it can do and how to use it in tithing and things like that. So we're going to go over some of that. Well tonight, what I want to do and this is the title of my message. God's love written on Stone. You said what what in the world is that all about well is Exodus 20 verse 1, through 17. And tonight I'm going to preach a sermon on the Ten Commandments.

Now we don't talk about the Ten Commandments a whole lot anymore and if you think of it to yourself, when's the last time you talked to somebody about the Ten Commandments most time we talked about maybe something Jesus said, you know, his teaching in the New Testament. But very rarely, do, we talk about the Ten Commandments? Now here's what I'm going to do at some point in time, I'm going to do a series on the Ten Commandments and we're going to take each command. And I'm going to do one message on the 8th commandment, but this is not it tonight tonight. I want to do an overview. And what I want to do tonight is to show you. I believe that in the Bible, the Ten Commandments, the way to look at it is God's love letter to us. So how many of you would think of the Ten Commandments as a love letter by shalt? Not Thou shalt not, don't do this, don't do that. That doesn't sound like a love letter. But it is a love letter because God knows what he's good for us. And if you love someone, you going to tell them the truth and you going to tell them what's good for them. And that's what he's done to us. And I've talked to people through the years and and tried to witness and in a lot of people think that church or that Christianity is just a bunch of rules and regulations from a God who sits up in heaven and every time you mess up, he takes your name down and he's just trying to make you miserable on Earth by giving you all these rules so that you can enjoy life and have fun. That's the way a lot of people. Look at Christianity. Now if that was true,

I can see why people wouldn't turn to Christianity, but the fact is that's just not the way it is. I've never considered the Ten Commandments, they were given by God not as a curse. But as a blessing, Ten Commandments was given, so that Israel would be blessed. They were given. So that is rolling and even ourselves we would have a successful life not a miserable life.

The Ten Commandments I think is a love letter. It's one of the most really powerful expressions of God's love and all of scripture. It touches virtually every part of our life. There's parameters to live B rules to live by.

Blessing and strength can be had a bright future and a hope. You sure. And I think that's a wonderful summary. And that's why I entitled this God's love or God's love carved or written on Stone. So, here's what I want to do tonight. We're going to have 10 points and what that is is each commandment and I want to talk a little bit about it and how that commandment shows God's love. So let's go to commandment number one that we're in Exodus chapter 20, Second book of the Bible, Exodus chapter 20 commandment number one in. This is what I call the fundamental rule right now let's look at it and verses 1 through 3 God spoke. All these words saying I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage. Now here's the first commandment you shall have no other gods before me. Now why is this the fundamental commandment? Not? Well, not just because its first but because it's the foundation of all the other command. And look what he says. He says I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and out of bondage, will remember, they were in bondage for how many years was about four hundred years, they were in bondage in Egypt. The Lord says, I'm the one who brought you out. So even before giving the Commandment to Moses, His love has already been seen by, how he brought them out of bondage, and the Commandments were a continuation of a love that begin with God's promise to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation. Now, remember about Egypt Egypt was and idolatrous Nation. And the Hebrew slaves, let us fled there and they were going to Canaan will Canaan was even worse than Egypt. They were a worse idolatrous Nation. So this first commandment is a message that the Israelites could have the one true God. If they embrace them, they look what he says. And you shall have no other gods before me and other words, if they would embrace the one true God, God was shower them with love and blessing and he promised to lead them into the promised land. God doesn't want to be first among many gods. He wants to be the only God in your life. Just like it was Israel. He said that's why I said verse 3, you have no other gods before me because I'm the one true God and we have to be careful about that ourselves. So only the Living God has power to speak these words of truth, only the Living, God can save, Sinners, only the Living. God knows your needs and is able to meet your needs. To heal you to answer your prayer. No, idle can do that. Did you know that? No Idle, No. Wooden statue can do that. You say what? People don't pray to a wooden statue where they do in some countries, they do it. So only the one true God can do that. So it was an act. I think about this, it was an act of love for God. To limit his people. To the only God who could care for them and that was him. That was an act of love when he told them, you should have no other gods. Before me, all the gods of Egypt, all the gods of the Canaanites and all he said don't pay attention to them. That's an act of love because he's the only true God anyway if God had allowed his people to worship whatever God they wanted they would have no Divine help. Since other gods are lifeless just objects of wood and stone. They would have no help. So that's an act of love. When he tells us to depend on him that is an act of love. We should have no other gods before him. That's an act of Love commandment. Number two, and I call this the focus rule, not look at it and Verses 4 and 5. You shall not make for yourself. A carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water, under the Earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. To the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. So the first commandment says that we have to worship the right God. The second commandment says, we have to worship the right God in the right way. In other words, don't make any image of God. Don't Make image of stone or wood or whatever. Does that makes you think of God? You know sometimes many people we get so caught up in Christian things that we almost treat them like an idol. Lot of people wear a cross around her neck. Nothing wrong with that. It is though if you if you look at that as well, when I see this cross it makes me think of Jesus.

Really so when you see that it makes you think of Jesus. So you've met God into a necklace across or something. He says you make no image. You don't have any, a lot of people get all caught up in angels. I've seen people with Christmas trees with nothing but angels on them and they're so caught up in angels and it makes them think of heaven. And think that's just another car. The image is what that is and so he says, you shall make not make for yourself the card. You, you shall not bow down to them or serve them. Jerry Vines was a pastor in Florida and this is what he said about a Graven image. Listen to what he said, I wrote this. Now, when you make a Graven image of God, you fix God, an image of God is limited. God is unlimited. An image of God is local. God is universal. An image of God is temporal. God is eternal. An image of God is material. God is spiritual when you make an image, it distorts who God is, and that's exactly right. It distorts who God is the Bible says, God is Spirit Well, it would be impossible to create a physical image of something that has no physical existence. I can you do that how can you make an image of God who has no physical? Existence, he has revealed himself by words and actions. If he wanted us to have an image of himself, I'm sure he would have, he would have sent us one or provided it, but he didn't why? Because our perception of God would be immediately tied to some image or something you could paint or something that you could build. And when you do that, you localize God and you make God really small. God become small and Idols are not just images of God Idol can be anything that we focus on or tensioner motion anything that rightly belongs to God anything that we love more than God is another God in our life. It could be a person, it could be a job, you could be money, it could be children, it could be thousands of things that we put importance to, and there's plenty of things in this culture that we live in that will draw us out. But look what the Bible says it says here. It says here in in verse five that I'm a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth Generations. The impact of a Dollar Tree can extend to people in our family. Three and four generations down. Think of that it is God's love, that keeps our sins from impacting generations of the future. How by prohibiting a Dollar Tree, very important, a lot of people don't don't even see it. And sometimes we just get so caught up in books and necklaces and wristbands and things like that, things would pictures that we have in our house slogans. We have on our license plate and we say well that makes me think of God this way. Then you just local news, May God small. He said, don't make an image. Told me you can't do that. Alright, commandment number 3. Let's move on. I call this the frivolous Rule. Now what, what do I mean by that?

to describe how people use is God's name to look at verse 7 You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain. For the Lord will not hold him Guiltless. Who takes his name in vain. Taking God's name in vain. You say, what do you mean by that? Well, let's just an example would be used in Jesus's name as a Exclamation. You have never been around somebody in and something happens and they say cheese of Christ. That's taking the lord's name in vain. Thought about taking his name in vain when somebody uses his name, as a exclamation or God's name is part of a curse saying, g d. This person or something like that, but it's so commonplace in our world that we hardly even think about it when we hear it. Now, the best modern equivalent, I think of the original intent of this is in a courtroom. And if you go to court, and you have to give a testimony in and you go up there and you put your hand on the Bible and raise your right hand, you promise to tell the truth. And what's the last thing you say? So help me God, you promise to tell the truth. So help me God. The witness is calling on God, to give credibility to his testimony, is what it is, but if he lies under oath, he's taking God's name in vain. It's what he's done. Any time we lie, we take God's name in. Vain God is saying here, I love you enough. Not to allow you to use me. In duplicity. Now, what I mean by that is a What does James call a double-minded man? Right is unstable. Don't take God's name in vain. Don't go to court and say, okay, I promise to tell the truth, so help me God and then get up there and lie or even outside of Court. We can do that because what God is saying, is not only do you hurt me. My name, you hurt yourself by trying to appear righteous if you have no intent on being righteous anyway. So that's taking the lord's name in vain and anytime anyone says, well, Yeah, well you better talk to God. Yeah you better you better get with the man upstairs. The man upstairs, you don't call God to man up. He's not the man upstairs, like he's some roommate that you have or something like that. You just, you don't do that. That's commandant. That's the frivolous rule. Very frivolous to take the lord's name in vain number for commandment for I call this the Frailty Rule and this is a fascinating one, look at it. And verses 8 through 11, here it is, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy Okay, six days. You shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God in it. You shall do no work. You nor your son or your daughter nor your male servant or your female certain or your cattle, nor your stranger who is within Your gates for in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the Earth to Sea and all that is in them and rested the Sabbath day. Therefore, the Lord bless the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Now, this is the reason I called this, the Frailty rule by the time of Jesus's Ministry on Earth. Jewish leaders. Not only had the Ten Commandments but they had compiled of a list of 1621 things that you couldn't do on the Sabbath. Did you cut? They added that to the Ten Commandments. I'm talking about the Pharisees, the scribes, and all of those, they added 1621 of a way of expanding God's commandment. Now, what Jesus said to him, he said you have turned the Sabbath into a burden instead of a blessing. In friends, we do the same thing. Because all of us have got ideas of what you ought and ought not to do on what we call the Sabbath on Sunday. And I've been called out before because I mowed my yard on Sunday. I'm so grass seed on Sunday. I wash my car on Sunday. I watch NFL on Sunday. I watch baseball on Sunday, I hope Aaron judge hits number 61 tonight. I tell you that I can't wait to get home to watch that and if it was a Sunday I would watch it. But but we take this and Jesus said you turn the Sabbath into a burden instead of a blessing and part of that legal us, attitude remains today and some Christian Circle. So what does the word Sabbath mean? It means rest. It means rest, the Jews were to work hard for six days and rest on the seventh. Now shortly after Jesus ascended to Heaven Christ, the followers of Christ, Move the meeting day of the church to the first day of the week. The day after the Sabbath, which was the seventh day. So, in our terms of Sabbath day was on Saturday, and still is for certain Jews and the Lord's Day. The resurrection of Christ is the day that we now know of a Sunday. So the day of rest and worship for Christians has traditionally been on Sunday to honor the resurrection, not, not Saturday, like some of the Jewish sabbath, befriends, we're not bound by the fourth Commandment, like the Jews were The book of Hebrews, says, that Jesus now is our Sabbath. He is, in other words, we are to rest in him. It was different when this was given to the Jews but the principle of taking a day to rest. One out of seven was established back in Genesis too but it still has relevant today. But sadly Christians have been influenced by a non-Christian approached the Sunday. Which is to treat it like any other day of the week, There's no rules that say what you can and can't do on Sunday, there's just no rules. I'm glad that there's people who work on Sunday sometimes. I like to go out and eat after church on Sunday. I'm glad there's somebody there preparing the food. Sometimes people get in car accidents on Sunday. I'm glad First Responders will come and take me to the hospital if they need to. I'm glad that sometimes emergency surgeries are performed on Sunday. I'm glad of that. It saves. It saves lives. It's a day to enjoy as a gift from God. You can rest have refreshment, come to service worship. It's a day unlike any other of the week, but we can't be like the Pharisees and all the sudden make the Sabbath of Burden instead of a blessing. And if we start putting all these rules and regulation you can't do this, you can't go here, you can't do this, you can't wash clothes, you can't run not clothes, washer loader, our runs every single day. I think it's not a day that we're not washing clothes, drying clothes folding something every day and that's okay. Alright. Commandment number five. I call this one the family rule. Look at verse 12, honor your father and your mother. Why that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. So let's just stop right here for a second. The first four Commandments that we looked at are oriented vertically is our relationship with God, but the next six is horizontal. Is our relationship with each other, family, and friends. And we begin with the family rule, honor, your father, and your mother. Now is that given to Children. Yes, but when it was given to Israel, it was given to adults to honor their parents. Any generation that doesn't honor his parents. Is likely to be Dishonored by their children. and we see that right now was in our nation today, we see children dishonoring parents So this commandment is the only one with a promise. It says here, honor your father and mother that your days may be long. Is that an ironclad promise everyone who honor their mother and father lives a long life. No, I mean, that's what it says. Honor, your father may be long upon the land. Know, it's not an ironclad promise. This is a general principle. It's a way of saying that as the current generation honors, the previous generation it has To the longevity of that generation. It's not talkin about an individual. Honor as a virtue suggest the presence of other virtues that lead to stability and blessing from God generally speaking that's what is talkin about. So commandment number five is the family rule commandment number 6. I call this the felony rule. Look at number six and we see it in verse 13. You shall not. What murder. Murder is a felony in today's legal system and that's why Jesus said, Thou shalt not murder. Now murder Is Not the Killing the Army's do when Nations go to war. That's not considered murder. Murder is taking another's life. with malice and for selfish reasons and that happens a lot in our culture doesn't Every time I watch the local news, it's like there's a shooting in Durham, somebody's been killed in, Durham in a car and on a street or something. Listen to these statistics in 2019, the US recorded. Now listen to this 16425 murders. That's across the United States. 16004 + 25. 47500 suicide. 47500 suicides in 2019, that almost doubles the murder. But it gets worse. 630000 abortions.

I think about,

16000 someone killing someone else for selfish reasons. 630000 killing a baby in the womb for what reason a selfish reason. 630000 important. Why did he tell us that shall not murder. Because man, Is created in God's image. And if you destroy the image of God on Earth, you are putting yourself in the place of God as the Lord of life.

Did you have control over your life? And I will do what I want to do. If I want to have an abortion, I'll do it. If I want to kill somebody, I'll do it. If I want to take my life, I'll do it. We already talked about that tonight that you can get so depressed and so without hope that, yes, it's possible for a Christian to do that, it is possible, but when we do that, we're destroying God's image on Earth and you're putting yourself in God's place in Jesus reveal how serious this is. Remember what he said, Matthew, he says it's possible to murder someone without killing them. Why you do that in your heart? He said, if you're angry or someone, you've already murdered them. In your heart. He says murder begins with the heart and in some times with the hand but the murderers heart is just as guilty as the murderers hand, is what Jesus said in God's love for those. He created is so deep that he doesn't want. Evil thoughts and evil actions like murder. He didn't want them to extend towards other people because he loves everyone mankind. So much he created all of us in His image and when we kill somebody, we're taking a part of God's image off this Earth. It's what we're doing. Commandment number 7. I called this defied deleterious to look at my 4 verse 14. You shall not commit? What adultery? Now, what is adultery? Well, let me give you a definition. It is the consensual sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man who is not her husband or married, man with a woman who is not his wife. That's what it is and it's not how it's not hard to see how this commandment Springs out of a motivation of love from God. Why? Because God does not want people individuals spouses children or extended family members to go through the Fallout of adultery. I don't know if you've ever gone through or something like that yourself, or as part of your family. But if you have, you know, how deeply disturbing that is. You lose all trust you. You can just absolutely destroy a family. There is nothing as hurtful. Is infidelity. Nothing will hurt you anymore. It is a crushing event and the Reason God says here, his can come out and you shall not commit adultery because he knows how it will crush individuals and families and he wants to spare us from going through that wouldn't you call that an act of Love? Absolutely. It is you shall not commit adultery commandment number 8. I call this the fraud rule. Look at verse 15. You shall not. What you shall not steal. You shall not steal. Now, this seems like a simple command. Yep. Fallen Humanity. And the creativity of man comes up with all kinds of reasons to justify. Taking something that isn't theirs or failing to give something to someone that is theirs. Imagine a world without stealing or fraud of any kind. Imagine listening to the world news every night and every politician told the truth about that if nothing but truth come out of their mouth. Yeah, I see. Exactly. Right, just imagine that. If that was true, we can leave our house is unlocked. You can leave your windows. You can leave your car unlocked.

Craig was at work the other day. Works at Lifetime Fitness. it's over there in Raleigh, I mean, How many people pay $100 per training session? The train-the-trainer is over there. I mean, it's like a city-within-a-city. It is huge in there. Someone someone stole his beautiful. In the locker room is locker with locked or something and it didn't work. Somebody went in there and stole his billfold. He said that happens all the time. People stealing billfold and he said even knocking out the glass windows out of cars in the parking lot.

And he said, his billfold was in the gym bag and they had to go through his gym bag to get to it and he said, they left everything else that they just took his wallet. I mean, it just goes on you thinking of affluent places like that, it wouldn't, but it goes on everywhere. And so just think if we could just leave everything out in the open, but God loves us enough to want us to be free of guilt and Punishment associated with stealing and fraud. And He wants everyone to have what is rightfully theirs. Why? Because God wants every person on this Earth to look to him as their provider. When you look for something else as your provider, you'll feel you'll do that. But if you trust that God is going to take care of you that he's going to give you your daily bread, then you can love other people and You won't have a problem with fraud or stealing, so honoring his love. And thinking about his provision will keep us from stealing. That's another way he has. Shown his love daughter's, commandment number 9. Verse 16. I call it the false witness rule. Look at verse 16. You shall not bear false, witness against your neighbor. What? What does that mean? Well, just kind of short and pointed here. You shall not lie. It's what it means. And it raises the question.

Well, why shouldn't I lie? If it helps me. Why shouldn't I? Why listen to what? Peter kreeft a theologian. Listen to what he says, why? We shouldn't lie. We are to tell the truth rather than bear false witness to our neighbor speech. Is a social act speech is a relationship. If I love my neighbor, I will, he is good. And Truth is the good of the Mind. As food is the good of the body. I want. Truth for myself, many want to deceive, but no one wants to be to see if I love my neighbor. As I love myself, I will want truth for him to therefore, I will be honest with him. And that's the exact truth. God loves us enough to want us to have the same relationship with each other that we have with him. And what is his relationship like with each of us based on honesty and transparency? Why I will not lie? And he want our relationship with others. To be just like our relationship with him. Commandment number 10 will close. And I'll call this one. The final rule. Look at it verse 17. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet. Your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, to his female servant, nor his locks, nor his donkey, nor anything. That is your neighbor. What's the reason for this final commandant? Here it is. It's a summary because this commandment covers all the previous nine, If you break the 10th commandment, you broken, one of the others, it covers all of them. If you commit adultery or steal or lie, or worship an idol, you are coveting. You say, what, what do you mean by that? You're saying to God, I'm not happy with what you give me. I'm not happy and content with what you have made for me. And I'm going to seek satisfaction somewhere else. Coveting starts. When you are discontented when you're not content with what you have, when you're not content with what God has given you you start looking around at other people and guess what you start saying? I wish I had that. I wish I had him or her wish I had smart children like that. Which I had a house, like that a car like that. A motorcycle swimming pool. I wish I had all those things. Like so is a membership to a gym. I wish I had all of that. You see? It is no doubt that the most violated commandment Is. Is coveting in the reason if the most violated is because it happens in the mind. That is not something that you can see no one else can see so we can feel free to engage in it. I don't have to tell you what I could of it. I'm just do it myself and you will never ever know Fred these Ten Commandments. Is God's love letter to us, written on Stone? He gave us this because he loves us. And if we will stick close to them, They are the perfect 10 that will always win. Let's pray, father, we thank you, and praise. You and love you tonight. Lord for your word and Lord, we don't talk about ten commandments much anymore but Lord help us to see it. That when you gave these Commandments she did it because you loved Humanity in or we know that we can't keep these perfectly. That's why you sent your son to die on the cross because we can't keep it perfect. The Lord help us to look at them and understand that what it says about us and what it says about our relationship with you. And with other people Lord help us to uphold these Ten Commandments help us not to be legalistic about it. But Lord help us to understand that. These are the perfect 10 that Win. It Is Your Love Letter To Us. In Christ's name, I pray. Amen. Alrighty, well, thank you for being here tonight. It was good to see everyone.