For the next few weeks we will be looking at the Ten Commandments.

I received an e-mail a while back, that contained the cowboy’s version of the Ten Command-ments as they appear at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie, Texas:
(1) Just one God.
(2) Honor yer Ma &Pa.
(3) No telling tales or gossipin’.
(4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting.
(5) Put nothin’ before God.
(6) No foolin’ around with another fellow’s gal.
(7) No killin’.
(8) Watch yer mouth.
(9) Don’t take what ain’t yers.
(10) Don’t be hankerin’ for yer buddy’s stuff.

      Of course, children have some unique perspectives on the Ten Commandments as well. For example, a Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her 5 and 6 year-olds. After explaining the commandment "Honor thy Father and thy Mother," she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?" Without missing a beat one little boy answered, "Thou shall not kill."
    What are the Ten Commandments? Are they law like we think of law? They don’t give any specific punishments…other than we are blessed if we follow them and cursed if we do not. They seem to be more like rules of conduct that we are supposed to abide by, or better yet, I believe they are statements of basic ethical principles that we are to live by. They were given specifically to the nation Israel, but were they only for Israel?  What about the scripture that reads “we are no longer under the law”? We will talk about that in a bit.

The Christian and the Law

In the Bible there are three types of law:
          A. First is Ceremonial Law – Involved sacrifices, offerings and methods of purification and cleansing typical or symbolic of the Messiah and fulfilled in the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ.  Ceremonial Law had to do with those things which related directly to the Jewish religion, which was based on the sacrificial system…That is, in order to atone, or pay for their sins, the people would have to sacrifice; and their sacrifice often came with great ceremony. 

    A great deal of the worship of Israel was based on these sacrifices.
All the rules about the Ark of the Covenant – (The Ark of the Covenant was an embodiment of God's presence with the Israelites. The atonement cover (or "mercy seat") that covered the ark was God's throne (2Sam 6:2) and God's presence was above it (Lev 16:2) it was also the place where God met

Moses and gave him commands (Ex 25:22). If someone approached the ark, they would effectively be in God's presence - a sinner standing before a holy God who does not tolerate evil (Ps 5:4-6) - and would die as a result of their sins. For this reason, God had given the Israelites many rules concerning the Ark of the Covenant. It was to be kept in the Most Holy Place in the temple, hidden from view by a curtain (Ex 26:33). Only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place, and then only after he had undergone ceremonial cleansing, made sacrifices to atone for his sins and the nation's sins, and burned incense to conceal the atonement cover (Lev 16). When the ark was moved, it was covered with at least 3 layers of cloth by the priests to protect others from seeing it (Num 4:5-6, 15, 18-20); the priests/Levites carried it and everyone else had to stay about a thousand yards away (Josh 3:4). These laws enforced the concept of God's holiness: sinful people couldn't be in his presence, not even the high priest.) and later the rules concerning the Temple (The tabernacle was more than just a dwelling place. All the components of the tabernacle were part of an intricate visual aid to illustrate God's relationship with His people. One aspect of this relationship was God’s requirement for complete obedience. God told Moses to create the tabernacle exactly the way He commanded. It was not to stray from God’s blueprint.

“Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” (Exodus 25:9)

    To this end, God gave very specific instructions about the size of each component and the materials the Israelites were to use, as we will see in the following sections of this discussion. These seemingly cumbersome rules were not intended to burden the people, but to show God’s unquestionable authority and holiness, and emphasize that people could only come to God on God’s terms, not on their own. They had to obey reverently not only in the construction of the tabernacle, but also in the way they worshipped. Any irreverence or ritual uncleanness could result from an individual being cut off from his people or in death.) – All the Laws about the priests (Leviticus 21:5-23 “Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies. They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the food offerings to the Lord, the food of their God, they are to be holy. “They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God. Regard them as holy, because they offer up the food of your God. Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy—I who make you holy. “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire. “The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair become unkempt or tear his clothes. He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother, nor leave the sanctuary of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil of his God. I am the Lord. “The woman he marries must be a virgin.  He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord, who makes him holy.” The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God.  No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; no man with a crippled foot or hand, or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.  No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food; yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.”) –  all these were based on special, specific offerings and sacrifices to God.

    So what happened when Christ came and died on the cross? He was the perfect sacrifice. He paid the price not just for our sins, he paid for the sins of ALL people of ALL nations throughout ALL ages.
    So what purpose would there be for ceremonial law any more? If we did something bad and decided we were going to sacrifice a goat so God would forgive us, what would we be saying about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross?  We’d be saying that Jesus’ blood on Calvary wasn’t enough to atone for my sins. "I need Jesus AND A GOAT"… “I need Jesus, and I need to “do” this or that…which is ridiculous. There is no sin that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross cannot cover. So what reason then do we have to continue with the Ceremonial Laws? There is no reason. These laws were just a shadow, just a picture of what was to come. So that, when Jesus DID come to earth and shed His blood for sin, people would UNDERSTAND what it meant.  That’s the first kind of Law – the Ceremonial Law – and we no longer obey those Laws because Jesus fulfilled those Laws in Himself.
          B.- Judicial or Civil Law – Regulations given to the Jews for civil government. Civil Laws provide for the day-to-day government of a nation. The civil laws were those that told you what to in cases of personal injury or property damage. Often the civil laws in the OT set down a certain punishment for a civil offense. Do we obey the Old Testament Civil Laws anymore? Well, we probably obey more of them than you think!  If not the actual letter of the law, at least our laws are based on the principles behind God’s Civil and Judicial laws.We don’t stone people, our punishments are different, but we still know what is wrong and what is right based on God’s civil and judicial laws,
          C. Moral Law – The Ten Commandments, are precepts that carry a universal demand. In other words, the Moral law is intended for all people at all times. Every person, every nation, every generation, for all time. The Ten Commandments don’t state certain punishments for not following them, however there are a couple that suggest a reward for following, but somehow we just know that there are “consequences”.
Now, there were three positions concerning the Law:
          a. Legalism – Salvation can be earned by keeping the law…or by doing or not doing certain things…This is what the Pharisees were known for - adding rule upon rule for the people to follow.
          b. Anti-nomianism – Which is a rejection of law. The denial that the law is binding on Christians today. “It does not matter if we sin, we have the blood of Christ as our atonement”…
          c. Our position – Let’s call it the Christian position - Although the law is not a means to salvation; it is nevertheless, a rule of Christian conduct (Rom. 3:28-31). “Though the believer is not under the law’s condemning power, he is under its commanding power. The law does not give life; but it guides life.”
I. The Origin of the Ten Commandments -
A. In their original setting, they were designed to keep Israel pure and distinct from the surrounding nations. (God wants the same for the church today.)
B. They are a revelation of the will of God (Romans 2:18)
C. They are a revealer of sin. Romans 3:20 says that “no man will be made righteous in His sight by observing the law. Rather through the law we become conscious of sin” The law makes us aware of our sin and because of that we know that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
D. They are a restraint on evil and set a clear standard for life. They are condensed statements of how to live and relate to God and others successfully. In one sense, the rest of the Bible comments, amplifies, interprets, warns and gives historical examples of those who kept or broke them and of the consequences of blessing or curse in each case.
II. Pertinent Observations
A. The ten commandments may be summed up under two. In general, the first division is more important than the second (Matt.22:37-40).

1. The first four deal with our relationship toward God.

2. The last six deal with our relationship toward our fellow man.

B. Love is the common thread that links the commandments together and provides the motive to obey… This is why Jesus said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul; and love your neighbor as yourself.”
Next week we will look at Commandment #1

Close by reading;

Deut. 4:39-40…. 5:6-22…. 5:29-33…. 6::1-9…. 6:24-25….7:9

    These last few months I have been posting excerpts from my newest book titled "We are Blessed". I have reached the conclusion of this series, as might be very fitting, as we prepare to make yet another move and transition in our lives. We have sold our house in South Carolina and will be moving back home to the cold tundra of Wisconsin the end of this month. I do not know what the future holds, but I do know who holds the future, and I am sure there will be more to write about and share as the Holy Spirit leads. Maybe there will be some messages that will come to mind as I spend more time sitting in a boat fishing. Stay tuned for the best is yet to come!

Conclusion

    I started this book out by looking at the things in this life that the world would see as being blessed; wealth, success, good health, fame, a great job, and the list goes on. Of course we would all want these things, and there are many people in this world who have all these wonderful blessings, Christian and non-Christian.  And, of course I believe that God desires for all His children to be happy in this life, but I also believe that our happiness in life does not depend on these things. I also believe that anyone who preaches that God wants all His children to be wealthy and healthy, and successful is preaching a false gospel. If that were true, then you just have to become a Christian and do this or do that; change your way of thinking; say and act a certain way, and you will be blessed! That is a lie of Satan. It does not say that anywhere in God’s Word. In fact, it does tell us what God’s will truly is;

Romans 12:2 – “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

1 Thessalonians 4:3 – “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;”

1 Peter 2:15 – “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.”

2 Peter 3:9 – “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

If I may, let me put that all in one sentence; It is God’s will for everyone to not be conformed to the pattern of this world and it’s thinking, but to come to repentance and do good and to be sanctified, because He does not want anyone to perish!”

    The only way to fulfill God’s will for your life is to be “born again” and receive all the blessings that are beyond this world, and have your name written down in the Lamb’s book of Life. Nothing in this world is worth more than this.

Be Blessed!

Choose to be Blessed.

    It is my intent to write to you about what God’s Word has to say about death, and about the gift of life. It is always at times like this when we find ourselves once again facing the reality of death, and thinking of our own mortality. Perhaps, like the servant Job in the Old Testament, we too would ask the question; “If a man die, will he live again?” Well, as a minister of God’s Word, I can tell you with full assurance, that the Bible says a resounding - Yes! As a Christian, I can tell you that all who have come to experience the living Christ in their lives can say - Yes!  I have come to believe that life is the gift of God - both this life we live now, and the life to come. And, like any gift, it is freely given out of love; but it must also be received, and opened, and experienced in order to become a true reality in our hearts, minds and souls.

    There are only three things that I find in the Bible concerning death; One is found in the Book of Genesis 2:6 where it says “And the Lord God commanded the man; ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but, you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you shall surely die”… Man of course, disobeyed God, which was sin, and the result of sin is the curse of death. “The wages of sin is death” says Romans 6:23…but it goes on to say “but the gift of God is life!” … “Life through Jesus Christ, His Son.”

    There was something else that I must point out in this creation story in Genesis; It’s found in chapter 3 verse 22 - “And God said; “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life…and eat…and live forever. So The Lord God banished him from the garden, … and placed cherubim, it says, “with a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” This becomes important in the end…Obviously, from this encounter, Adam and Eve had not yet eaten from the tree of Life in the center of the garden, and mankind lost that opportunity for imortality.

    Now, the second thing the Bible says about death is that it is the destiny of every man to die once, and after that to face the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) Let me emphasize something here; Man is destined to die ONCE. This also becomes important in the end…

    The third thing the Bible has to say about death is rather interesting - and probably most important -  from the Book of Revelation 20:12-15 - “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

    That’s basically all the Bible has to say about death; #1. Death is the result of sin. #2. It’s man’s destiny to die once…But, #3. if our name is not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life, we face what is called the “second death.”  Basically, that’s it. Because I think that is all God tells us we need to know about death. You see, the truth is God’s Word is concerned from beginning to end about LIFE. Not just eternal, spiritual things as some would believe, but even more so with this life, right here right now. 1 Timothy 4:8 for example says; “godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

    Jesus did not come to tell us all about death and dying, he said “I have come that they may have LIFE, and have it more abundantly!”… “I am the resurrection and the LIFE”…he said… “I am the Truth, the Way, and the LIFE”…he said…and he said, “I am the Bread of LIFE”.  The Apostle John in his gospel wrote in John 20:31; “These things are written that you may believe, and that by believing you may have LIFE.”

    In the beginning, God speaks our name, and we awaken into this life; And, we find ourselves in the loving arms of someone who knows our every need; we call her “mom”…The days and years go by and slowly but surely we learn the lessons of living; good and bad; Then one day, God speaks our name again, and we step from this life into the next, and we find ourselves in the loving care of the one who truly knows our every need. And His Word says “He will wipe every tear from our eyes” … “There will be no more sickness, no more death, no more mourning nor crying or pain.” 

    In this life, we are like the chick inside the egg, that has no idea whatsoever what the world is like outside of the shell! But, when the time comes, it bursts forth from that shell into a whole new world of LIFE! “If a man die, will he live again”? Jesus said; “Because I live, you shall live also!”

    Finally, let me take you again to Revelation 20 and 21 - Remember, Man was banished from the garden and no longer had access to the tree of life…Revelation 20 speaks of the “Lamb’s Book of Life” and those whose names are not found in the book face the “second death.” I would like to offer you a simple statement for your consideration today; ( “He who is born once dies twice” - But, “He who is born twice, dies once!” )  God says it is only destined for man to die ONCE…It is when we reject God and His Word and refuse to be “born again” and have our name written in the Lamb’s Book, that we are in fact choosing to die twice!

    Now, listen to this from Revelation 21:1-7 – “Then I saw a new heaven and a new Earth, for the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  He said to me; “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son… We jump to verse 25 – “On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but, only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life may enter the city.” Chapter 22 – “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life as clear as crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood…the Tree of Life”…” No longer is there any curse.” This means that we will once again have access to the tree of life, and live and reign with Him forever and forever… In verse 14 Jesus says – “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the Tree of Life and may go through the gates into the city”… Verse 17 – “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”

    Moses once spoke to the people and said; “See, I have set before you today life and death… blessings and curses… therefore - choose life!” … Choose to be Blessed!