The Ten Commandments

Today's sermon has the title of the Ten Commandments. Let's turn to Exodus 20. I think most of us know that's where the Ten Commandments are found. And read these Ten Commandments that we're going to be speaking about today. That's Exodus chapter 20, and we will begin reading in verse 2.

That's commandment number one.

Number three in verse seven.

Number five, verse 12.

Number eight, verse 15. The Ten Commandments briefly stated no other gods before the true God, no graven images. Do not take God's name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Honor your father and mother. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. And you shall not covet. You know, there are different versions of the Ten Commandments. One that you might enjoy hearing is, and it's not God's version, and this is not, you know, doesn't fully cover what we just read. But anyway, it's a bit humorous. The Ten Commandments in Cajun, you know, Cajun country, down in Louisiana way, that keeps the Ten Commandments real simple. Number one, God is number one, and that's all. Number two, don't pray to nuttin' or nobody, just God. Number three, don't cost nobody, especially the good Lord. Number four, when you do the Sabbath, pass yourself by God's house. Number five, your mama and your daddy did it all. Less than. Number six, killing duck and fish, that's okay. People know. Number seven, God done give you a wife, sleep with just her. Number eight, don't take nobody's boat or nuttin' else. And number nine, stop lying. Your tongue gonna fall out your mouth.

And number ten, don't go wanting somebody else's stuff. Well, that kind of gets the gist of the Ten Commandments anyway, doesn't it? Today we're going to ask ourselves some questions, and we will provide answers from the Bible. Are the Ten Commandments required for salvation? What do you think? Must we keep the Ten Commandments? Did Jesus do away with the Ten Commandments? Did the early church keep the Ten Commandments? Did the Ten Commandments begin with Moses and Israel? What we read out of Exodus 20 had the Israelites standing before the foot of Mount Sinai when they received these Ten Commandments? Did the Ten Commandments begin then with Moses and Israel, or did they exist before Mount Sinai? When Jesus and the saints reign in the millennium, the one thousand years, just ahead, will the nations keep the Ten Commandments?

These are all very important questions, and we need answers from the Bible. And we're going to look into our Bibles this morning for the truth. Let's take these one at a time, beginning with, did the Ten Commandments begin with Moses and Israel at Mount Sinai? You know, many people believe that's when the Ten Commandments started, but the answer is no, absolutely not. That is not the start of the Ten Commandments. It can be shown that the Ten Commandments were in force from the very beginning. For example, it was breaking of the Sixth Commandment when Cain killed Abel. That was murder. That was sin. It was lying, the breaking of the Eighth Commandment, the Ninth Commandment, when Abraham told Abimelech that Sarah was his sister, even though Sarah was indeed a half-sister, yet the intent and everything was that of lying. And it was the breaking of the Ninth Commandment. It was the breaking of the Seventh Commandment when Abimelech took Sarah to be one of his wives. And God appeared to Abimelech in a dream and warned him that he had a man's wife. He had taken another man's wife. It was the breaking of the Seventh Commandment against adultery. It can be shown that it was a sin to steal. It was a sin to serve other gods. It was a sin to have false images. It was sin to break the Sabbath. All this can be shown to before Mount Sinai. So the Ten Commandments existed before Mount Sinai. That is very easy to prove. They were in full force from the beginning. You know, many have not realized, who believe the Ten Commandments were not enforced before Mount Sinai, that actually without the laws of God being enforced, there would not even be sin. You couldn't have sin without the law. Turn over to Romans 4 and verse 15. In a very simple little statement here that without the law being enforced and existing, then you could not even have sin. There would not be transgression of the law unless the law does exist. In Romans chapter 4 and verse 15, because the law brings about wrath. It does when we break it. It brings about blessings if we live within it, but it also certainly produces wrath if we break it. For where there is no law, there is no transgression. The last part of verse 15. Where there is no law, there is no transgression. There cannot be sin, then, unless there is a law.

Sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John chapter 3 and verse 4. So there was sin before Mount Sinai, and that's proof within itself that the Ten Commandments existed. The Ten Commandments did not begin with Moses and Israel at Mount Sinai. The next question we'd like to address is, did Jesus do away with the Ten Commandments? The answer to that is no. A thousand times no. Jesus did not do away with the Ten Commandments. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 5 and verse 17.

Matthew chapter 5 and verse 17. The Sermon on the Mount. Very well known Sermon on the Mount. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 17. Jesus said, do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. That's just exactly what people do think. But Jesus said, do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. And Jesus didn't destroy the law by fulfilling it. Some people think that's how that, that's what it means. Jesus fulfilled the law by and did away with it by keeping it. No, not at all. The word fulfill means simply to fill up to the full. Jesus came then not to destroy the law or the prophets, but to enlarge upon it, to even add to it, to fill it up fuller than it was before.

Exactly what did he mean by fulfill? Well, you know, in this very chapter you can go on to see what Jesus meant. How did he fill up the law? Well, he gives an example of that. Just come on down to three verses to verse 21. He gives example of two examples of how he the law to its full.

In verse 21, you've heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder and whoever murders will be in danger of judgment. Well, God's law, the sixth commandment does say you shall not murder. But notice how Jesus fulfills the law or fills it up fuller than it was ever before. In verse 22, I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment and whoever says to his brother Raka shall be in danger of the counsel.

So, Jesus shows here that if we have anger or hatred toward someone, we commit murder in our heart. So, he fills the law up fuller than just actually the letter of the law, killing someone. Another example is in verse 27 of how Jesus fulfilled the law. Verse 27, you've heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery. Well, that's the seventh commandment. That means not to then be unfaithful to your mate. But notice how Jesus fulfilled this law. Verse 28, I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. And so, Jesus shows that a person can commit adultery in his heart without actually committing the physical act itself. And each of the Ten Commandments, you could take each one of them and enlarge them to show that they can be broken without just committing the letter of the law violation. You know, you can break the Sabbath day. The Sabbath is a day of rest by not going out and working, just sitting in your lounge chair and beginning to think about maybe some kind of business deal you're going to be working at this coming week, and your mind begins to get off on your work and how you're going to make money at this venture. And you are violating the spiritual principle of the Sabbath day. This is a day to get our minds off of our jobs and our work and on to the things of God and study and prayer and drawing close to God. So each of God's commandments then can be enlarged to show that there's a spirit of the law that we and we violate the law in sin if we violate that spirit of the law. That is how Jesus fulfilled the law or filled it to the full. Did Jesus do a wave of the Ten Commandments? No, the opposite. He enlarged and amplified the Ten Commandments to show just how pervasive they are in the spirit of the law. In Matthew chapter 19, Jesus clearly here shows that we must keep God's Ten Commandments if we will enter into life. Are the Ten Commandments required for salvation? Well, let's put it this way. We're not going to be in God's Kingdom unless we keep these commandments of God in spirit and in truth. So, you know, if you want to the word, the verb you might use required or some other word, it is essential that we keep the commandments of God. Jesus said here in Matthew chapter 19 and verse 16, one came to him and said, good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? Yeah, what can I do that I can may have eternal life? Apparently, he was seeking a good deed of some type. Maybe he could do some type of alms or do something good for other people. But in verse 17, here's how Jesus answered this question. He said to him, why did you call me good? No one is good, but one that is God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commits. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. So remember Matthew chapter 19 and verse 17. You know, if we will enter into life, if we would like to have eternal life in God's family, then keep the commandments. This man said to him, which ones? And Jesus said, you shall not murder some of the Ten Commandments that we just read. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness.

Honor your father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbors yourself.

You know, Jesus did not even get into the ones that pertain to how we worship God, but he did get into ones about loving our neighbor. And he went on to show that this young man, actually, to fulfill this, would need to do some giving away of things, and he was not willing to do that. So, yes, if we would enter into life, then we must keep the commandments of God.

Jesus did not do away with the Ten Commandments. I had a booklet at one time. I don't have it now, but I remember many years ago I had a booklet nailed to the cross, and it showed nailed to the cross. It showed a cross on the cover of this booklet. The title of it was nailed to the cross.

But then it showed the Ten Commandments, those tablets of stone, nailed to the cross. And this booklet then proceeded to show that the commandments were done away. The commandments have been nailed to the cross. There are people that believe that. But don't you believe it? That's a big lie. Jesus Christ did not come to do away with the commandments of God, but to enlarge them to their full spiritual intent and purpose. Next question. Did the apostles and the early church keep the Ten Commandments? Yes, they did. The early church kept the Ten Commandments. They kept and they taught the Ten Commandments. Let's read a few verses. Acts chapter 24 and verse 14. The apostle Paul in this chapter makes a statement that he believed in the laws of God. And this certainly would apply to the Ten Commandments. Acts chapter 24 and verse 14. Paul says, This I confess to you that according to the way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things that are written in the law and in the prophets. And so Paul believed in God's laws, the Ten Commandments, and he believed things in the prophets as well. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 19. This is a clear statement by the apostle Paul. So many people take Paul's writings and they twist his writings to say that he did away with the law, that it was showing that the laws of God had been done away. But they don't read all of the verses and all the statements by the apostle. Here's a very clear one. 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 19. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Paul says whether you are circumcised or not circumcised gets you nowhere because that's something that's just a fleshly type thing and it doesn't really get you in anywhere spiritually. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but what? The keeping, the commandments of God is what matters. Keeping the commandments of God is what really matters.

So keeping God's law, that goes right in line with Matthew 19.17. If you will enter into life, keep the commandments. That was the teaching of the apostle Paul and many other verses that we could show about Paul upholding God's law. Let's go to 1 John chapter 2. Here we have a very strong verse about keeping of God's commandments. Very strong indeed. And in fact, if we claim to know God, these verses point out and certainly need to be keeping God's commandments. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 3. By this we know that we know Him. How do we know that we know God? If we keep His commandments. You know, that's the way we know that we know God is by keeping His commandments. Did you know God? Well, only if you're striving to keep the commandments of God. That's how we know Him. In verse 4, notice how strong this is. John writes very strong, he who says, I know Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar. Someone says, oh, it's good to know the Lord. Would you keep God's commandments? No, they've been done away. That person, according to this verse, is a liar.

He says, I know Him and does not keep His commandments as a liar. And the truth is not in Him.

But whoever keeps His Word, truly the love of God is perfected in Him. By this we know that we are in Him. So we know that we're on the right track and we know that we are coming to know God by keeping His commandments. You know, God is given the 10 commandments then as a way to come to know Him. And we'll develop this further to show that God's commandments are based on love. God Himself is love. And the 10 commandments then show us the avenue, the path, that will lead us to the love of God and the love for fellow man. So God's commandments then help us to come to know God, what God is like. 1 John 5, verse 3. 1 John 5, verse 3.

This is the love of God. And what is the love of God? That we keep His commandments.

The very love of God is that we keep His commandments. You know, the 10 commandments, what God has done is to develop 10 commandments for mankind to observe and to keep. And by keeping those commandments, we come to identify with God and His love and what He is like. We come to know what God's character and God's nature. And it goes on down to say that, of course, if God's commandments help us to understand Him and His love and His character, then naturally His commandments are not burdensome. It's not burdensome to keep the 10 commandments, to not kill somebody, to not commit adultery, to not steal or to lie or cheat or covet.

It's not burdensome or to honor your father. What is burdensome would be the results of not doing those things. It's not burdensome to have no other gods before the true God or not to have a grave in image of some type or to respect and honor God's name. It's not a burden to keep the Sabbath day this day. It's a day of rest. God intends that we have a break from our weekly chores and work. It's good. God's laws are holy and just and good, as we'll read later on.

So the apostles and the early church kept the 10 commandments. They taught and they kept. Their example is that of the keeping and teaching the 10 commandments. So, brethren, you know, the truth is wonderful. God's commandments is how we come to know Him. God's commandments are based upon the love of God. You know, sometimes people have asked, will have the 10 commandments always existed? In principle, yes. You know, honor your father and mother is an application of an eternal principle of God's character. You've not always had mothers and fathers around, only since God created mankind. The Sabbath, of course, keeping of one day out of seven, based upon movements of certain heavenly bodies in relationship to the earth or the earth and the sun, the principle of the Sabbath is eternal. But God has taken eternal principles and given them application to human life and human conduct and human relationships. Yes, so the principle of God's laws are eternal, and He has then taken those eternal principles and given them application for mankind so that mankind may come to learn God's character in nature.

And so God's laws are laws of love that help us to know Him. Let's turn over to Matthew 22.

There are the 10 commandments could be narrowed down to two broad principles. Matthew 22 in verse 36.

Matthew 22 in verse 36. Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? This was a lawyer asking Jesus a kind of testing Jesus, which is the great commandment in the law. Jesus came right back. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. The first four commandments show us how to love God with all of our heart and mind and soul and being. No other gods, no graven images, not take God's name in vain. Keep the Sabbath day holy to God and worship Him. These first four commandments show us in principle how to love God. And then verse 39, the second is like unto it, or like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. It all narrows down to love to word God, how to do that, how to relate to God and love Him, and how to relate to neighbor and love Him. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And so those last six commandments honor your father-mother, shall not kill, not commit adultery, shall not steal, shall not bear false witness, shall not cover. These last six commandments then show how to love neighbor, how to love neighbor as ourself.

So the 10 commandments show us then how to love God and how to love mankind.

These 10 commandments of God that God has come up with, you might say, with the application of the principle of the love of His character, has given this love of God an application in 10 specific principles for mankind. It's perfect. If we follow the points, each of these 10 points, then it will change us. It will change the kind of person that we are, because it's capable of doing that if we observe and keep these commandments. Let's go to Psalm 19. Psalm 19, verses 7-9.

Psalm 19, verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect. God's law, as it has been formulated for human mankind to keep, is perfect. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. It will change and convert us. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. So God's law is capable of converting us if we keep it in spirit and in truth. It's a lamp to our path. Without God's law, it's like stumbling around in the dark.

No wonder this world is stumbling around. No wonder things are not going right. Is the world keeping or not keeping the Ten Commandments? Not keeping. And nations are not able to get along with each other. Families are not able to function as they should. Many times there are breakups and families, communities. Man is just violating the Ten Commandments all over the place. And I tell you, as we break God's laws, God's laws are breaking us. The results are breaking God's laws, the cause of all of the problems on the earth today. Proverbs 6, verse 23.

Proverbs 6, verse 23. So if we want to not stumble around in the dark, then we must turn to keeping the Ten Commandments. Proverbs 6, verse 23. The commandment is a lamp, and the law is light. You know, isn't it nice to have a lamp, to walk around if you go outside, to have a flashlight, or maybe a lantern, or a lamp of some type? Isn't it nice when you jump into your car that you turn on your front lamps, your headlights, to be able to show you where to go? So God's law then helps us to look ahead and to see how to conduct ourselves and how what we should do. Let's go to Romans chapter 7.

We need to hold God's laws up in the highest light, then, the greatest way. In Romans chapter 7, verse 12, Paul said, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Here's the apostle that some people think did away with God's law. No, the law is holy, Paul says, and the commandment is holy, and just, and good. And he said in verse 14, we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. God's laws then protect us. They keep us. If we break them, they break us. You know what a different world it would be if everyone were to just keep the Ten Commandments.

We have a booklet. The United Church of God publishes a booklet on this subject, the Ten Commandments. Each commandment has a chapter that enlarges upon that commandment. The first commandment is, No Other Gods Before the True God, and it shows that this is the beginning of our relationship toward God, and helps us to understand the True God, and help us to become acquainted with the True God in a family relationship.

And the second commandment shows that our worship must never be reduced or tried to reduce God to a likeness of a physical object. Only God can reveal what He is like, and He is spirit. We can't put that into physical drawing or some kind of image. God is spirit, not physical. And idolatry is very, very harmful indeed. And God's name is to be revered and respected. It's not to be used in profanity and slang, but to be honored.

The importance of God, our Father, and also Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. And the fourth commandment on the Sabbath day. You know, what a wonderful day this is that we can just stop and think about the spiritual things. We can think about God's purpose and plan. We can have a break from our physical labor. There have been people in the world that have learned there's a need for a break. Some have pushed so hard they worked so many hours each day, seven days of wait, relentlessly pushing their bodies to keep on going until they come to a breakdown.

I have articles in my Sabbath folder at home how some people have come to realize that they need the body, the human body needs this break. Just physically, every seventh day then, God gives us that break. Arrest! What a wonderful day this is.

We have a whole chapter on the Sabbath day and how we come to know God better by keeping the Sabbath. And then the fifth commandment, honor your father and mother. It shows then how this is the beginning of our relationship with mankind and the importance of mothers and fathers and the teaching of their children, helping their children to establish their identity and helping them to be pointed in the right direction.

Then the sixth commandment, life is a precious gift. You shall not kill. You shall not take life away, but instead the opposite, give life. Then the seventh commandment, you shall not commit adultery. Protect the marital relationship. You know what a wonderful thing that would be if there were no breakups, no family breakups. You know that's going to happen in the near future when Jesus Christ is king. So protect the marital relationship. In each of these 10 commandments that is in the negative form, you shall not murder. There is a positive side to that.

Instead, you shall give life. You shall help to enhance the life of your neighbor. You shall not commit adultery. Instead, you shall build up a strong family unit. You shall be faithful to your mate and let your family unit be strong and your relationship strong. And then the next one, you shall not steal. You shall not steal the practice. Instead of stealing, you shall give to your neighbor. Give abundantly to him instead of trying to get something from him by stealing.

And then you shall not bear false witness, but bear the truth. Let the truth be the way of life that you are living. And then you shall not covet. Instead, be satisfied and happy with what you have.

And certainly do not desire or covet what others might have. So, you know, each of the 10 commandments, it'd be nice for everyone to have a copy of this. It'd be good to read it from time to time. You would benefit from it. We'd be glad to send you a copy from our home office if you don't have one, or we may even have some extra copies on hand here. But what a different world it would be.

I think everybody agrees with that. What a different world it would be if everyone kept the 10 commandments. And that age is coming soon. Let's read just two or three verses about that. Isaiah chapter 2. A world is coming where everyone is going to keep the 10 commandments.

That's part of the message that we, the United Church of God, preach out into the world. And that is that a time is coming soon when everyone is going to keep God's laws and commandments.

Let's read about that in Isaiah 2 and beginning in verse 2. Isaiah 2 and verse 2. It shall come to pass in the latter days, and that's just ahead of us now, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law. The laws of God, the 10 commandments, you know, the only law that existed back in Isaiah's time, 700 some years before Christ, 700 BC, were the 10 commandments. So Isaiah writes about the 10 commandments. The laws of God will go out from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between nations and rebuke many people. And this is showing the keeping here of the sixth commandment especially, not killing or murdering in war. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. So that time is coming that the nations are going to disarm. All the military weapons and vehicles and missiles and rockets, all that is going to be torn down. Every nation is going to disarm. Isaiah 11, verse 9, says that during this time we won't have the breaking of God's laws and commandments. There won't be any hurt that man does to other human beings.

Isaiah 11, verse 9, they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. So, you know, brethren, we are now, I'm jumping ahead of the story a little bit, but we're in training. And our training is basically to learn God's laws and be able then to teach nations, administer the laws of God, teach mankind how to keep the Ten Commandments. That's why we're learning now how to keep the Ten Commandments so we can teach many, many others then under Christ. You know, the Sabbath will be one of those laws or Ten Commandments that we teach. Let's go to Isaiah 66 and verse 23. The Sabbath is going to be observed by everyone in the millennium. Isaiah 66 and verse 23, it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another. All flesh shall come to worship before me, says the Lord. So everybody, on every continent, every island, wherever they live all over the earth, everyone is going to keep the Sabbath week by week. So God's laws will be enforced and there will be no more war, no more theft, and throw your keys away. Wouldn't that be nice? Just throw your keys away. You won't need them.

And there will be no adultery, no crime, no evil. Jesus Christ and the saints are going to teach mankind the Ten Commandments in that way that produces happiness and joy and peace for all of mankind. Right now, God is calling and preparing a people. And your calling and my calling is to believe God and to keep His Ten Commandments now. If we do, and if we overcome, you know, none of us has learned God's commandments perfectly yet. But we're growing in grace and knowledge. But if we do overcome, then we will be prepared to teach the Ten Commandments to all nations during the 1000 years. Let's turn to Revelation 2. And it will be our job, then, to assist Jesus Christ in teaching the Ten Commandments to all nations. Revelation 2.

And verse 26. Revelation 2. He who overcomes and keeps my works until the end.

So there is overcoming to do. There's growing. We've got work to do, then.

Work to do today and this coming week, the weeks and the months ahead. Keep working on yourself.

Because God, as we'll get into in just a moment, God's laws are not just the outward physical letter of the law observance. It gets down to in the deepest levels of the heart and mind.

Jealousy doesn't fit within God's laws. It's a violation of God's laws. Hatred and anger toward someone is a violation of God's law. Lusting after someone other than a desire toward your mate is a violation of God's law. So there's overcoming to be done. He who overcomes and keeps my works until the end. To him I will give power over the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. As the potter's vessels, they shall be broken to pieces.

Also in Revelation 3 in verse 21, to him who overcomes I will grant to sit with me on my throne as I also overcame and am set down with my father on his throne. So we must overcome in order to be able to teach people God's way. We must not believe the lie that this world has come to accept that God's law has been done away. The Ten Commandments have been done away.

Instead, we are to be diligently keeping the Ten Commandments.

But let me get to something very important. We are not able, the way we come into this world, we are not able to keep the Ten Commandments in spirit and truth on our own. And that's really what God is looking for. Those who can really keep his commandments at the deepest level of their heart and mind. These Ten Commandments are more than just the letter of the law, the outward observance. It's deep within our hearts and minds that we must keep the Ten Commandments.

And we need help to do that. We don't have the power to keep them in spirit and in truth. And yet that is what the Father is looking for. Let's go to John chapter 4. He's looking for ones who will keep the commandments of God. Not only just agree that they should be kept and keep them in the letter of the law, but those who will go on to keep them in spirit and in truth. Look in the, let's read verses 23 and 24. In John chapter 4, John 4 and verse 23, the hour is coming, Jesus here, the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The true worshipers, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

You know, it's not an outward type of observance that God is looking at or looking for.

He's looking for something deep in our hearts and minds. And to keep God's law in spirit and in truth, then we need the power of the Holy Spirit. We have to be empowered from on high.

We need God's Holy Spirit to empower our human spirit. Now, there is a human spirit that we are born with. It's called the spirit in man, several places in the Bible. That's what gives man the intellectual ability, the reasoning ability, his ability to create. That's what separates man from the animals. Animals don't have a spirit in them that is able to do that. They just have an instinct, and they're smart in their own way. It's amazing, y'all, how smart they are in the way that they're programmed. They're just automatically programmed by instinct to go a certain way. Human beings don't have instinct in that way. They have a spirit that is able to be creative, that's able to ponder, that's able to have language, understand concepts. But that human spirit is not able to keep the Ten Commandments in spirit and truth. It doesn't have the power to do it. You know, that's one reason mankind is failing so miserably. He doesn't have power to, even if he does believe in the Ten Commandments, he doesn't have the power to really become a new and different person, not on his own.

It does take God's Holy Spirit to give us that power. That power is available, though, and first of all, a person must repent and be baptized and receive God's Holy Spirit, and then he will have the power to begin keeping and obeying God's Ten Commandments in spirit and in truth, and to really come out of this world. We heard in the sermonette that actually we have here many ex-violators of God's law. We still fall short. We still have to repent, but we have people that have all kinds of people. All of us have various backgrounds in the ways of this world, and God has called us to come out of that and not to live that way any longer. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 6. We read about that, that we are not any longer to live that way, and with God's Holy Spirit, it can go deep down within our hearts and minds to convert us into something totally different than what we were before. In 1 Corinthians 6, and let's read verses 9, 10, and 11. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 9, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? That would be those who don't keep God's laws, those who do not keep them in spirit and in truth. Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous. See, all these are breaking God's Ten Commandments, nor drunkards, revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And it says in verse 11, and such were some of you. Notice the word were. Such were some of you. You know, what were we here?

You know, I don't know, but we all broke, you know, God's laws in one way or another.

And that's the way we were. But it goes on to say, but you were washed. That's repentance and baptism. But you were sanctified. That's receiving God's Holy Spirit. But you were justified through the sacrifice of Christ, the Passover, in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Brethren, you know, God calls us to come out and to live a different way of life.

Such were we. We may have had hatred, envy, jealousy. We may have had sexual immorality. We may have had hatred, anger, many other evils, many ways that we broke God's law. But that's to be a thing of the past. I would encourage all of our young people here to consider today's sermon and choose to keep the Ten Commandments. You will be choosing success in your life, and you will be blessed if you will keep God's commandments. They will protect you if you will keep the Ten Commandments of God. You will be protected. Let's read about that.

Deuteronomy 28. Two whole chapters in the Bible show the blessings of keeping the Ten Commandments, and these same chapters show the curses of breaking the Ten Commandments.

In Deuteronomy 28 and verse 1, it shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments, which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations on the earth, and all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you because you obey the voice of the Lord your God. And it goes on the same blessed in the city, blessed in the country, blessed in the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground. Just blessing after blessing after blessing will come your way. You want blessings and good things, young people, old people in between? Let's keep the commandments of God in spirit and in truth. But if we break God's commandments, they will break us. Look in verse 15. Deuteronomy 28 and verse 15. It shall come to pass if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statues, which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you, cursed in the city, cursed in the country, cursed your basket, and so forth. Curse after curse after curse is given in the rest of this chapter. You'll also find this same thing in Leviticus 26, the very same thing, the blessing and the curses chapters. So let us certainly avoid the curses. Let's turn over a couple of chapters more. Deuteronomy 30, let us make the right choice in life. Make the choice that we want the blessings, not the curses. Deuteronomy 30 and verse 15. See, I've said before you today, life and good, death and evil. And that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish. You shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over Jordan to go in and possess.

I call heaven and earth to as witnesses today against you, that I've set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that both you and your descendants may live, that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and length of your days, and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them. The blessings will come upon those who choose to keep God's laws and commandments. I'd like for us to conclude by reading a few verses in the book of Revelation. Let's go to Revelation 12 and verse 17. The very last book in the Bible is one of the strongest of all in upholding the Ten Commandments of God. In Revelation chapter 12 and verse 17, this chapter that is talking about the church, and even at the time of the end, the church being taken to a place in the wilderness to be nourished. In verse 14, verse 17, the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring. Revelation 12 verse 17, last part, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Brethren, the testimony of Jesus Christ is the gospel, the gospel of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God has laws. Those laws are based upon the Ten Commandments. So here, the church of God is described as keeping the commandments of God and having the true gospel, the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 14 and verse 12, Revelation 14 and verse 12, here is the patience of the saints. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The faith of Jesus was that of obedience to God's commandments. It was that of coming out of the world and being different and enduring to the end.

So God's people will keep the commandments and they will have that kind of faith. Revelation 18 and verse 4 warns us to come out of the sins of this world, the breaking of God's laws. Revelation 18 and verse 4, I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins. And sin is the breaking of God's laws. And lest we share in the sins of this world, unless you receive of her plagues, the plagues come because of this sins. And we are to come out then and to be separate from this world and to be different.

In Revelation chapter 21, there will come a time when God's plan with mankind is complete.

God's plan to bring humans into his family will be over. And that time is in Revelation chapter 21 and 22. Revelation 21 and verse 1, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no more sea. I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And God will dwell with men. And verse 4, wipe away all tears. And verse 5, the father says, I make all things new.

And in verse 7 it says, he who overcomes shall inherit all things. God is going to share all the holdings of the God family, the universe, which just seems like it's limitless, just never ending. God's going to share all of the possessions of his universe with his family.

He who overcomes will inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son.

These are those that have kept the Ten Commandments in spirit and in truth, who have learned the love of God and the love of others. But what about those who have broken the Ten Commandments? What about them? Verse 8 says, the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. So those who break God's laws will not be in this new heaven and new earth. You know, I'm glad, aren't you? How would you like to be in something that goes on forever, eternity, and have murderers there? Liars, thieves, people that go opposite of God's law. I'm glad that God draws the line and that He does not only allow those that have learned to keep God's laws and commandments in spirit and in truth.

Coming on over to Revelation 22, Revelation 22 and verse 7, those last words of admonition, those last words of admonition, behold, I'm coming quickly. Blessed is He who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Brethren, we should have an urgency as we respond to a message like this, that we go out and that we keep God's laws and His commandments more fully than ever before. None of us is perfect in the keeping of God's commandments in spirit and in truth. Hatred sometimes crops up. Jealousy, maybe a lust of the flesh or of the spirit.

What happens around your house? What happens in your life? What happens on the job? We need to grow in grace and knowledge and keeping God's Ten Commandments in spirit and in truth. In verse 12, behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to every one according to His work how we respond to the keeping of God's commandments, deep in our hearts and minds, in spirit and in truth. Verse 13, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Notice verse 14 about the importance that we do keep God's commandments. Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the Tree of Life and may enter through the gates into the city. You know, the keeping of God's commandments is our passport into God's Kingdom. Without a passport, you can't get into, you can't travel. You must have a passport, and you need one when you come back to your own country.

I found that out a few years ago, before passports became so important. This was after 9-11. We went into Canada, no problem, around the Banff area, and after spending some time there, tried to come back into the United States, which I had done before, just with a driver's license. And it wasn't required at that point legally to have a passport, but the agent there at the border gave me a hard time because I didn't have a passport. He said, I could send you back up, you know, and make you stay here until you can prove, you know, your citizenship in the United States. It's pretty rough on me. So don't, you know, a passport is how you get into a country today where you travel somewhere. And we cannot get into God's Kingdom without the passport of keeping his commandments in spirit and in truth. We have the right to the Tree of Life and can enter into the gates of the city. But what about those who don't keep God's commandments? In verse 15, outside, left out, you might say, not in the kingdom of God, are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bride and morning star, and the spirit and the bride say, come. And they say, yes, come, keep God's commandments, get your passport ready for entry into God's kingdom. Let him who hears say, come, and let him who thirsts, come, and whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book. It is important that we keep God's laws and commandments not adding to and not taking away from. Keep them just as God has commanded them in the deepest intent and spirit of the law. So God's laws, how important they are for us. They are. As we keep them, we learn the love of God, we come to know God, we're developing our passport into the kingdom of God. That's what it means. We're learning the character and the nature of Almighty God as we keep his commandments.

Verse 14 again kind of sums it all up when it says, blessed are those who do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city.