The 10 Commandments
Study of Exodus 20:2–17
NCF Worship 6/12/22 - Graduate Sunday
June 12, 2022 • Pastor Bob Becker • Exodus 20:1–2, Matthew 5:17–18, Psalm 118:14–21, Galatians 4:1–7
“The Holy God Saves His People” One mistake we often make in studying the Ten Commandments (Ten Words) is we fail to see the Gospel in them. We fail to see the good news of the Law. Therefore, we should not skip over the first two verses of Exodus 20. God reminds Israel that He is the God who brought them out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. God saves us to give us the ability to obey His Law. We, as Paul reminds us in Galatians 4, must never believe the Law saves us or make the Law a burden by adding to it. The Law shows us we need Someone else to fulfill it since we cannot fulfill it ourselves but are condemned by it. The freedom to obey the Law was given to us by God saving us through Christ Jesus. This should bring us great joy because even when we fail in our obedience we are still saved through Christ’s obedience.
NCF Sunday Worship June 19, 2022
June 19, 2022 • Pastor Bob Becker • 1 Corinthians 8:4–6, Exodus 20:3, Isaiah 45:22, Psalm 50:1–6
“The Only True God” We cannot have faith in faith. Most people have faith in something or someone. Some people believe it is not so much what or who you believe in as it is about just believing. There are people who worship sincerely, intensely, but are worshiping the wrong god. The first commandment puts that falsehood to rest. The first commandment is foundational to all the rest. If any moral Law is going to be binding on us, there must be a divine lawgiver. The Ten Commandments were not written up based on some internet poll. The question is, “Who has the right to tell us how to live?” The majority? God has the right to tell us how to live because He created us and knows what is best for us, what brings true freedom. “Which God?” someone might ask. Exactly says Exodus 20. There are not many gods. The only true God is the God of the Bible.
NCF Sunday Worship
October 16, 2022 • Pastor Bob Becker • Exodus 20:18–21, Psalm 111:10, Psalm 34:7–11, Matthew 10:24–31
What did the Israelites fear in hearing God speak His Law? Was it the Law itself or God’s judgment if they broke His Law? It was both. However, the latter was primary. God cannot look upon sin, that is, He cannot leave it unpunished. Heb. 10:31: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” However, perfect love casts out fear. We find joy in fearing God not just because we find joy in His holiness, but also His holiness drives us to our need for Jesus Christ. The Law after condemning us drives us to Jesus Christ when the Holy Spirit gives us the eyes to see how holy our God is and how sinful we are. He reveals to our hearts we need a mediator between us and God and that mediator is Jesus Christ. Therefore, there is joy in fearing our Lord. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15).
NCF Sunday Worship
October 2, 2022 • Pastor Bob Becker • Exodus 20:17, Hebrews 13:5–6, Psalm 73:21–28, 1 Timothy 6:6–12
Are we content with what the Lord has chosen to give us? Dreaming about having what God has not given often reveals our idols and our lack of contentment. Are we envious of what others have? The 10th commandment by addressing covetousness is addressing a sin of desire. Not all desires are sinful. We have a desire to eat or work on something that is useful. We desire friendship, family, and being a part of a close-knit community. Sin just has a way of corrupting our desires causing us to eat too much, to over work, to be jealous of others. Coveting leads to other sins—stealing, adultery, lying, dishonoring authority, idolatry, failing to rest in the joy of the Lord being content with all He has given us. The 10th commandment starts on the inside showing us why we break the other commandments. Our hearts are not right. For this reason, Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matt. 6:33 ESV).” Trust in Jesus overcomes a covetous heart.
NCF Sunday Worship
September 18, 2022 • Pastor Bob Becker • Exodus 20:16, Ephesians 4:25, Psalm 43:3–5, John 16:7–14
Most people agree lying is wrong but maybe the commandment broken most often. It sometimes is hard to detect and has little risk of being found out. 50% of job resumes have at least one falsehood on them. Our God loves the truth and is the Truth. This commandment refers to bearing false witness in a court of law. At least two witnesses were necessary to convict a person of a crime in OT Israel. They had to see the criminal act or prove a witness was lying. Lying in court, perjury, was so serious that a false witness received the punishment of the accused. Deut. 19:18-20: “The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you.” The witness in a capital case threw the first stone at the convicted person. If you lied, you saw the devastation your lie caused others. The 9th commandment like all the others applies to all types of lying. Are there exceptions? What if we lie to protect the life of individuals and nations? We need to hate a lying tongue as much as God does. We need to hate lying as much as being lied to.
NCF Sunday Worship
September 11, 2022 • Pastor Bob Becker • Exodus 20:15, Ephesians 4:28, Psalm 37:21–29, 1 Timothy 6:17–19
God owns the cattle upon a thousand hills. He owns everything but has allowed us to mirror His ownership through us owning private property. A person cannot steal something if it does not rightly belong to someone else. This commandment does not just forbid stealing what belongs to someone else, but also advancing ourselves economically by taking advantage of the weaknesses of others (TableTalk). The positive side of this commandment calls us to be generous to the poor, to have an open hand to the poor (Deut. 15:11—from which Open Hand of Fredericksburg gets its name). Proverbs 19:17: “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.”
NCF Sunday Worship
August 28, 2022 • Pastor Bob Becker • Colossians 3:1–5, Exodus 20:14, Galatians 6:7–8, Lamentations 3:22–26
When dealing with the 7th commandment, Jesus says lustful intent is enough to break this commandment. God provided marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual union. Most disciplinary cases in churches, both past, and present, deal with the breaking of this commandment. Because we live in an overly sexually charged culture, it is difficult to protect oneself from lustful intent. It is a matter of the heart. What does our heart treasure the most--purity or lust? We must guard our hearts by guarding what we allow our eyes to look at. Paul encourages the saints in 1 Cor. 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Often the way of escape is not just guarding what our eyes look at but having fellow Christians helping us to flee from lustful intent.
NCF Sunday Worship
August 21, 2022 • Pastor Bob Becker • Exodus 20:13, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 27:1–8, Matthew 5:21–26
The KJV translates the 6th commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” In early 17th century England, that translation is consistent with their word usage, but it is more consistent with the Hebrew to translate it in today’s English as “You shall not murder.” The meaning is you shall not take life unlawfully. Exodus 21:12 states, "Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.” Scripture gives the State the authority after a just trial with witnesses to execute someone who has committed a capital crime. Soldiers and officers, in justifiable cases, are allowed to take life to protect the life of others. The Bible allows for lethal force to be used against an attacker to protect innocent life (Ex. 22:2-3; Gen. 9:5-6). The positive side of the commandment is to protect life. God commanded the Israelites to build fences or parapets around their roofs so that when entertaining guests on their rooftops, someone would not accidentally fall to their death. We put fences around swimming pools so children will not accidentally fall in and drown. God cares so much for human life that He makes laws to prevent the intentional taking of human life but also laws designed to prevent the loss of life by accident (TableTalk). He does this because He is a just God and because we are made in His image.
NCF Sunday Worship
August 14, 2022 • Pastor Bob Becker • Exodus 20:12, Ephesians 6:1–4, Psalm 78:1–7, 1 John 5:2–3
The first 4 commandments are considered the first tablet of the Law because they deal with our relationship to God. We are commanded to show our love for God by worshipping Him only, by not making graven images of Him or any other god, by not taking His name in vain and by setting apart the Sabbath day as holy celebrating Him and all He has done for His people. The next 6 commandments, the second tablet, are showing our love for God by how we love other people whom God has created in His image. God begins with the family. We show love for God by honoring the authorities he has placed over us beginning with our parents. Western culture is experiencing a crisis of authority because they have neglected obeying the 5th commandment. Even if many parents in our culture today do not expect their children to honor and obey them, Christian parents should teach and expect their children to obey their proper exercise of authority (TableTalk). Why? When children do not respect the authority of their parents, they end up not respecting any authority. Augustine of Hippo comments: “It’s your parents you see when you first open your eyes, and it is their friendship that lays down the first strands of this life. If anyone fails to honor his parents, is there anyone he will spare?”
NCF Sunday Worship
August 7, 2022 • Pastor Bob Becker • Mark 2:23–28, Exodus 20:8–11, Colossians 2:16–17, Isaiah 56:1–7
Jesus Christ transforms how we see and obey every one of the Ten Commandments. This is especially true when we come to the 4th Commandment. Christians move the Sabbath to the 1st day of the week honoring Jesus’ resurrection. We call it the Lord’s Day rather than Sabbath Day. Yet, both the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Heidelberg Catechism speak of a Christian Sabbath when we diligently attend the assembly of God’s people to learn what God’s word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to God publicly, and to bring Christian offerings for the poor. The Westminster Confession says the day is to be set aside from all “worldly employments and recreations. ”Additionally, the Heidelberg Catechism calls us to rest from our evil ways and let the Lord work in us through His Spirit and so begin in this life the eternal Sabbath. The key is it should be a day of rest and rejoicing for what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. For this reason, Jesus teaches us, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
NCF Sunday Worship
July 31, 2022 • Pastor Bob Becker • Colossians 2:16–17, Isaiah 57:1–7, Mark 2:23–28, Exodus 20:8–11
Jesus Christ transforms how we see and obey every one of the Ten Commandments. This is especially true when we come to the 4th Commandment. Christians move the Sabbath to the 1st day of the week honoring Jesus’ resurrection. We call it the Lord’s Day rather than Sabbath Day. Yet, both the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Heidelberg Catechism speak of a Christian Sabbath when we diligently attend the assembly of God’s people to learn what God’s word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to God publicly, and to bring Christian offerings for the poor. The Westminster Confession says the day is to be set aside from all “worldly employments and recreations.” Additionally, the Heidelberg Catechism calls us to rest from our evil ways and let the Lord work in us through His Spirit and so begin in this life the eternal Sabbath. The key is it should be a day of rest and rejoicing for what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. For this reason, Jesus teaches us, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
NCF Sunday Worship
July 24, 2022 • Pastor Bob Becker • Romans 10:13, Psalm 8, Philippians 2:5–11, Exodus 20:7
The first two commandments at first glance seem to us stronger than this 3rd commandment. It makes sense we should only worship the true God and not false gods. We also have no problem with the true God commanding how He should be worshipped. It is the 3rd commandment we seem to reduce to simply staying away from a few vain statements. We miss how extensive this commandment is regarding our speech when referring to God. To take His Name in vain means to treat as empty, worthless, to use for no good purpose. The Jews were so fearful of using the name Yahweh they replaced it with “Adonai”—Lord. (LORD in caps in our English Bibles always translates Yahweh. Lord with only the first letter capitalize translates Adonai.) We do not need to be superstitious about using the name Yahweh, but we must not misuse it by swearing empty or false oaths in His Name. Yahweh is the self-existent One. The One who is sovereign over all things and therefore how we use His Name matters.