September 14, 2008
Sermon #749
The 10 Commandments – Honoring God
Exodus 20:1 - 7 (NKJV) 1And God spoke all these words, saying: 2“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3“You shall have no other gods before Me. 4“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; 5you 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, 6but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 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.
Introduction: In a message several weeks ago now I stated that while the ritualistic law, such as circumcision had passed away in the New Testament, it was “always the 10 commandments.” Since then I received several e-mails asking questions about how the 10 commandments could apply to a Christian. So I have decided to begin a serious of messages that I am calling Always the 10 Commandments and today we shall begin with the most important, honoring God!
You Honor God by putting Jesus first in your life
You cannot honor God accept through Jesus
John 14:1 - 11 (NKJV) 1“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4And where I go you know, and the way you know.” 5Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
7“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 8Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” 9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
You honor Jesus by receiving Him as Lord and Saviour
Romans 10:5 - 13 (NKJV) 5For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” 6But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
God is two Holy to look upon except through Jesus
Exodus 33:17 - 23 (NKJV) 17So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” 18And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” 19Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” 20But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” 21And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. 23Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
Hebrews 12:7 - 10 (NKJV) 7If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
ILL: Only those to whom He has imputed righteousness through the Cross will stand in His presence and honor God!
No Image to worship
Exodus 20:4 (NKJV) 4“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; 5you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.
ILL: In Israel you will not find a portrait of a national leader in a building, on a coin, or a statue. That is not what is meant! When I first visited the birth place of Jesus in Bethlehem I was disgusted with what I saw. My Jewish guide asked me what was wrong. I replied, “This is idolatry!” She answered, “Why Paul, you are a Jew!” Christians were bowing down and kissing a glass star and a doll baby depicting Jesus! When I was in India the bus driver stopped our bus, got off and offered sacrifice to a little idol – that was worshiping a craven image!
Worshiping any created person or thing is image worship!
ILL: I can remember as a boy watching the news reels of Hitler in Germany and seeing the German people shouting “Hail Hitler” – they were calling Hitler a god and they were worshiping his image. Will worshiping an image send Christians to hell? No – but it will sure bring disaster to the individual or to the nation that does it and that adversity can last generations!
Exodus 20:5 (NKJV) 5you 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, 6but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Honor His Name
Do not use His name lightly
ILL: The Old Testament scribes would not even write His Holy name – they just left a blank place.
His name is: Elohim – The Entire, Complete, Everything
Deuteronomy 10:17 - 22 (NKJV) 17For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 18He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. 19Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name. 21He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. 22Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude.
His name is Jehovah – The Covenant keeper
Exodus 3:14 - 15 (NKJV) 14And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’
His name is El-Shaddai – The God Who is Almighty
Genesis 17:1 - 7 (NKJV) 1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 3Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.
His name is Adonai – The Lord
2 Samuel 7:18 - 24 (NKJV) 18Then King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord GOD? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? 19And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord GOD; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD? 20Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord GOD, know Your servant. 21For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them. 22Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23And who is like Your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for Himself a name—and to do for Yourself great and awesome deeds for Your land—before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, the nations, and their gods? 24For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, Lord, have become their God.
His name is Jehovah-Jireh – The God Who Provides
Genesis 22:6 - 8 (NKJV) 6So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
His name is Jehovah-Rophe – The God Who Heals
Exodus 15:22 - 26 (NKJV) 22So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”
His name is Jehovah-Nissi – The banner of His Glory
Leviticus 26:3 - 9 (NKJV) 3‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, 4then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. 6I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land. 7You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. 8Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you. 9‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.
His name is Jehovah-M’Kaddesh – The One Who Sanctifies
Leviticus 20:7 - 8 (NKJV) 7Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
His name is Jehovah-Shalom – The God of Peace
Judges 6:23 - 24 (NKJV) 23Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” 24So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
His name is Jehovah-Tisdkenu – Our Righteousness
Jeremiah 23:5 - 6 (NKJV) 5“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 6In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE Lord OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
His name is Jehovah-Rohi – Shepherd
Psalm 23:1 - 6 (NKJV) 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 e restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 ea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 ou prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
Conclusion: How dare anyone use the name of My Lord in profanity!
ILL: Using His name in profanity is like trying to put tar on the sky – only the person doing it gets dirty! It shows ignorance, low class, and the cesspool of a mind.
How dare anyone to use His name without faith - to use His name without faith is to use it in vain!
John 14:12 - 14 (NKJV) 12“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
