God's Top Ten

VI – “Thou Shalt Not Kill”
    A Sunday School teacher was discussing the 10 commandments with her 5 & 6 year olds. After explaining the commandment to “honor your father and mother,” she asked, “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?” Quickly, one of the kids answered, “Thou shalt not kill.”
What I would like to do in this chapter is this:
1. Answer why God gave this command.
2. Consider what exactly is prohibited by this command.
3. Consider what is not covered by this command.
4. Consider the N.T perspectives on this command.

    First, why did God give this command? – Simply put, because we are made in the image of God. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
    We are the very top of the creation of God, the very greatest things he created on this earth. We are created with God’s very image stamped on us. That doesn’t mean that God looks like us – it means that our spiritual being is shaped like his. God has a mind, we have a mind. God has a will, we have a will. God has emotions, and we have emotions. This is the reason you’ll never see a depressed cow! They weren’t created in God’s image.
    Also, because God is the giver of life. “He is the God who made the world and every-thing in it. . . He himself gives life and breath to everything.” (Acts 17:24-25 (NLT)

Second, what exactly is prohibited by this command?
1. Murder: (being a premeditated act.)
2. Manslaughter: (killing of another on the spur of the moment.) Which may be   voluntary or involuntary.
3. Death resulting by acts of negligence.
4. Suicide
5. Euthanasia
6. Abortion

Third, What is not covered by this command;
1. The killing of animals, insects, etc. (An unfortunate and wrong result of some folks reading of the KJV is that all killing is prohibited God.)
2. The states action of carrying out the death penalty. And,
3. War

What about the New Testament perspective of this command?
    God is not just concerned with the outside, he’s also concerned with your heart! He’s not just concerned that your body is doing the right actions, he’s concerned that your heart has the right attitudes!
    Jesus came along and said, (paraphrase) “God’s not just interested in whether you kill, he’s concerned with whether you would kill if you had the chance. He’s concerned with your heart – what you would do if you thought you could get away with it.”
    What he actually said was “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Matthew 5:21-22 (NKJV) (Anger leads to many bad things.)
    What Jesus did, is move the commandments from just outward actions – “kill” – to inward attitudes and motives – “hate.”  Why? Because anger and hate and bigotry and racism and the like, all can lead to “killing”.
    You see, anger affects everyone. Not just you, but those around you. It’s very contagious!
    In his autobiography, “Number 1”, Billy Martin told about hunting in Texas with Mickey Mantle. Mickey had a friend who would let them hunt on his ranch. When they reached the ranch, Mickey told Billy to wait in the car while he checked in with his friend. Mantle’s friend quickly gave them permission to hunt, but he asked Mickey a favor. He had a pet mule in the barn who was going blind, and he didn’t have the heart to put him out of his misery; so, he asked Mickey to shoot the mule for him. When Mickey came back to the car, he pretended to be angry. He scowled and slammed the door. Billy asked him what was wrong, and Mickey said his friend wouldn’t let them hunt. “I’m so mad at that guy,” Mantle said, “I’m going out to his barn and shoot one of his mules!” Mantle drove like a maniac to the barn. Martin protested, “We can’t do that!” But Mickey was adamant. “Just watch me,” he shouted. When they got to the barn, Mantle jumped out of the car with his rifle, ran inside, and shot the mule. As he was leaving, he heard two shots, and he ran back to the car. He saw that Martin had taken out his rifle, too. “What are you doing, Martin?” he yelled. Martin yelled back, face red with anger, “We’ll show him! I just shot one of his cows!” Anger can be dangerously contagious.
    Many parents have passed on to their children their own anger. They’re so angry because of – (you fill in the blank) – that they pass on their hatred. So, how does this command prevent pain in our life? Let me explain:
    If you break God’s commands on the outside, often the pain will be on the outside. (If you pull the trigger and kill someone, they’ll put you in jail.) But if you break God’s command on the inside, like we’ve been talking about concerning anger or hate, guess where the pain comes? That’s right. It’s all inside! When you bottle up hatred and anger, when you have a heart to kill, even when your body wouldn’t do it, they won’t put you in jail. But it will cause damage and pain and hurt and guilt in your heart that will mess you up and only God can heal!

Ten Commandments

V - “Honor your father and mother, that it may go well with you”

    Parents of teenagers point to this commandment often. A father of four teens said, “There’s nothing wrong with teenagers that reasoning with them won’t aggravate.” Another said, “Insanity is contagious. You catch it from your kids.”

    The fifth commandment is not directed at teens, but to families and children of every age. This is the first commandment with a promise.

ILLUS: A study once disclosed that if both Mom and Dad attend church regularly, 72 percent of their children remain faithful in attendance. If only Dad attends regularly, 55 percent remain faithful. If only Mom attends regularly, 15 percent remain faithful. If neither attend regularly, and just drop off their kids at church, only 6 percent remain faithful. –

    I think it’s interesting that God goes from our relationship with Him, to that with our parents. (Why do you think this is so important? Answer - It affects all other relationships! Our parents, our siblings, our friends, our family members, our co-workers, and our world.)

Look at Romans 1:18-32:

¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 

¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 

²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 

²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

²⁵ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 

²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 

²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 

³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 

³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 

³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Sound familiar?

    Think about the cycle of life. When a baby is born into a family, he or she is totally dependent on the parents. (In what ways?) Don’t forget things other than physical.     

    As a child grows they become increasingly independent, - not necessarily smarter! - until they are ready to leave home and have families of their own. The parents however, take a different path. A path that takes them from the vitality of youth, to the security of middle age, to the vulnerabilities of old age. It is during the latter stages of life that they become more and more dependent upon their children…and the cycle is complete. And so it goes from generation to generation.

What does it mean to honor our parents?

1. Honor our parents by obeying them.

2. Honor our parents by valuing their advice.

"A wise son heeds his father’s instruction..." Proverbs 13:1

3. Honor our parents by showing your appreciation.

4. Honor our parents by helping meet their needs. (Not just in old age.)

    Not every home is a happy home, nor a God honoring home, some of us may have parents who: divorced; fought or were abusive; may have even abused you phys-ically; or, they were alcoholics. Some may feel like their parents did not deserve honor, nor forgiveness. But, forgiveness is not a feeling. It is a CHOICE to not hold on to anger that can destroy your lives and continue the cycle.

    Over eighty-five percent of child sexual abuse is committed by someone the child knows, loves and trusts. Most often the person who exploits a child is in a legitimate power position over the child. More than fifty per cent of reported cases list parents, parent substitutes and relatives as being responsible for abuse. In most cases, what is labeled sexual abuse is really incest.

    Is it possible for a child to honor a dishonorable parent? Millions of children are conceived without love, abused physically, ignored shamefully, and damaged emotionally. How are they to respond to parents who have so mistreated them? Those who join groups like Adult Children of Alcoholics, realize that their tragedies are shared, and that they can support each other in undoing the effects on their lives. They recognize that a necessary first step toward recovery is an honest confirmation that the situation existed. Denial never brings relief.

    The most difficult step is to receive and offer forgiveness. As we receive forgiveness from God, we should also forgive those who have sinned against us. Difficult as it is, Paul’s formula is helpful: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

    Those with painful childhood memories can work through them with God’s help. Honoring parents, worthy or not, is the most healthy and mature course. Lewis Smedes, a renowned Christian author, offers a valuable perspective: “The commandment to honor parents doesn’t tell children to feel happy about their parents or to enjoy camping with them or even have them over to dinner. It says nothing about happy emotional relationships. All that it commands is “honor”. The commandment is concerned with family structure and the role of parents and teachers and leaders in the family.”

    Smedes separates love and honor this way: “Love is natural impulse; honor is a moral choice.” Even when love has been absent from a relationship, there is still a place for honor. In the best relationships, however, both should be present.

    It is interesting that God addresses this crucial commandment to children rather than to parents. He might have said, “Parents be kind, sensitive, generous, and thoughtful towards your children.” But, I think God wanted to give children the opportunity to “break the chain” so to speak and choose to honor even the dis-honorable. Remember, we choose neither our parents nor the environment in which we grow up. We may be raised in circumstances where respect comes easy, or in extremely difficult settings, but we can choose to honor our parents, and God promises that “it will go well with you.” Oh, and one more thing; neither you nor your parents are ever too old…it is never too late.

Ten Commandments

IV “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.”

    A preacher rode by one Sunday morning to see a farmer and church member at work harvesting. “Brother,” the minister lectured him, “don’t you know that the Creator made the world in six days and rested on the seventh?” “Yes,” said the farmer, “I know all about that, but He got finished and I didn’t!”

    There has been much debate over one particular thing in this commandment; What constitutes “work”?  Where do we draw the line? What about jobs that require you to work on Sundays? I believe God exhibits grace concerning some things. However, when I had jobs that required me to work on Sundays, I would have to say my spirit suffered, because I missed the worship and I missed the fellowship. (Other testi-monies?)

    There are three things that I would say are important in this scripture; “remember”, “rest”, and “revere”. It’s a call to remember basically three things about God;

1. God’s power and creation.  2. God’s provision.  3. God’s holiness.

    It is also a call to “rest”.  God took time out to rest and enjoy his creation. He made us, He created us, He certainly knows that we need rest and relaxation. Physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, our bodies need time to refresh.  Statistics show that after 40 hours of work, concentration levels drop; mistakes increase; moral begins to nosedive; and even our health is affected.  People who are workaholics lead the charts in work related disorders such as; high blood pressure, heart problems, stress and depression… This is why God built into the system a “mini-vacation” called the Sabbath.

    We need a physical change of environment. We need an emotional change of environment. We need to encounter joy, and creativeness, and fellowship. And, of course, we need a spiritual re-charge.

    What we receive on the Sabbath gives us what we need to base the rest of our week and our lives on.  If we do not take time to rest and focus on God, we will become worn out physically - “burn-out” - we will get burned out emotionally and spiritually as well. This causes us to get caught in a downward spiral that weakens marriages; divides families; puts tension on friendships; and even weakens our moral and ethical convictions.

    God wants us to stop working on the Sabbath, but He also wants us to start worshipping. That’s why He adds “and keep it holy”… the word “holy” has to do with being set apart for God.  It is a time to spend in worship; it is also a time to spend in activities that contribute to our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. (What would they be?)

Would you consider this a negative or a positive command?

To what extremes can we take it?

    One man challenged another to an all-day wood chopping contest. The challenger worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break. The other man had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the day. At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and annoyed to find that the other fellow had chopped substantially more wood than he had. "I don’t get it," he said. "Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did." "But you didn’t notice," said the winning woodsman, "that when I sat down to rest,  I was sharpening my ax."

In what ways can we sharpen our ax on the Sabbath?