Hi, my name is Janice from Christ Unite. Happy New Year. Today I will be preaching on God’s Law the 10 Commandments. How God’s Law can help to fix world problems? Is Old Testament Law Still Valid In New Testament Law? Is Old Testament Law still valid today? How can we make the world a better place to live in? Today’s verses are from Exodus 20:1-17, Matthew 5:17-48 and Matthew 22:36-40.
Come. Let’s Pray.
Dearest Heavenly Father, is new year today. 2023. A brand new year. A brand new beginning. A new start in some of us in our lives. You are our almighty God that created us, this universe for us to live in. There are many problems in this world. Many of the problems are caused by us humans. We have sin against you. Please be merciful and gracious to us. Forgive us. Help us to know what to do through your word your law how to fix world problems. How can we make this world a better place to live in. Help us to be good citizens, your good children to obey your law. Enable me to preach well your word that others can understand your word, obey and apply your word in their lives. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Let me read for us today’s Bible verse from Exodus 20:1-17 the Old Testament Law from God. I will be reading from NIV version.
Exodus 20:1-17 (NIV)
1"And God spoke all these words:
2"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3"You shall have no other gods before me.
4"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
9Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.
11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13"You shall not murder.
14"You shall not commit adultery.
15"You shall not steal.
16"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
Now let me read to you what did Jesus say in New Testament about the Old Testament Law.
Matthew 5:17-48
17"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
21"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.'
22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
25"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.
26I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
27"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'
28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
31"It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.'
32But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.
33"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.'
34But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne;
35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.
36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
37Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
38"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'
39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)
36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
38This is the first and greatest commandment.
39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Now. Let me ask you why do we have law? We need to have law to have peace and order keeping us safe. Law protect us citizens in our country from harm and danger. Otherwise, things will get out of control leading to bad consequences. People will behave themselves and have good human behavior.
With this understanding, now let’s look at God’s law why did God give the law to the Israelites in Exodus 20 and the history?
In verse 1, we are told that the Israelites were formerly slaves from Egypt. In verse 2, we learnt that God sent Moses to get the Israelites out of Egypt freeing them from slavery which they suffer for 430 years across many generations and bring them to the promise land that God swore to Abraham.
He gave Moses the 10 commandments God’s covenant law in 2 tablets inscribed by God’s finger himself on stone at Mount Sinai, instructing him to tell the Israelites to obey these laws. God gave these law is for the Israelites own good, as a reminder for everyday conduct. He don’t want them to sin against him. This can be found in Deuteronomy 5:29 and verse 33. Let me read to you this verse. Deuteronomy Chapter 5 verse 29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! Verse 33 Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
Another reason why God give this law is because God is a holy God. He wants people to only worship Him only. This is the first commandment. He instructed that there shall not be any other gods before Him. He wants people to fear him and obey his commandments or there will consequences. The second commandment is no idols in the form of anything in heaven above or on earth, beneath or in the waters below. No one to worship these idols as gods for God himself is a jealous God who will punish the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Him. For those who do not worship any false gods idols and obey His commandments, God will show His love to them and many generations after them
Shortly after God gave this 2 commandments not to worship any other god, not to have any idols, the Israelites disobeyed God and made a calf of gold as they complained to Aaron that Moses still did not come down from Mount Sinai. They did not know what had happened to him. They wanted to make gods to help them. This can be found in Exodus 32.
God knew what they did and grew angry wanting to punish them. Moses asked God for mercy and reminded him about His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Israel that He will make their descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and gave them the promise land. God relented. When Moses got down from Mount Sinai to the camp and saw the calf, he got angry, he broke the stone covenant that God gave Him and he burned the calf in fire, ground the burnt remains to powder and scatter them in water, making the Israelites drink it.
Let’s look at the 1st 2 laws found in Old Testament. Are there any similarities in New Testament? Is it valid today? I have put the laws as a table for comparison.
Old Testament Law (Exodus 20) 1st & 2nd laws 3"You shall have no other gods before me. 4"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
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New Testament Law (Matthew 5:17-18, Matthew 22:36-38)
Matthew 5:17-18 17""Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Matthew 22:36-38 36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. |
As you can see the New Testament Law is the same as the Old Testament Law for the 1st 2 Commandments. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them. He came as human to set as an example that He can fullfill all the laws not breaking any of them. When Jesus said he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, He is proclaiming He is God. He still wants to keep the law. Jesus also emphasized that the greatest commandment which is the 1st commandment in New Testament found in Matthew 22:37 is to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. If you love your God sincerely, you will not have any other gods, you will not make any idols and worship them.
Despite God’s commandment, many people around the world still do not worship God. They have all kinds of idols in all kinds of images which they say are their gods. Some use paper and worship the paper idols. Some make them from clay and worship them. Some burn paper idols what they want and pray they will get this idols after burning them. The paper idols can be cars, houses, university degrees, money, baby and many more. All these are against God’s first two commandments to worship only him and not to have any idols.
The third commandment in Matthew 5:7, God instructed not to misuse His name as He will not hold anyone guiltless who misuse his name. What are some of the examples one might misuse God’s name? Jesus gave us some examples in Matthew 5:33-37. Let’s look at them. Verse 33 told us we cannot break any oath we make to the Lord our God. Verse 34 to 36 is about swearing. We cannot swear by anything that belongs to God. We cannot swear by heaven as it is God’s throne; or by earth for it is God’s footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King Jesus Christ as He is the King of the Jews. We cannot swear by or head, for we cannot make even one hair white or black. God owns and control our lives, He even knows the number of our hair. So if you swear by your head, you are also swearing to God. God want our answers be Yes or No. No breaking of oath or swearing to God. As what Jesus said if you Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. You will obey His commandment.
Old Testament Book (Exodus 20) 3rd Law 7"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
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New Testament Book (Matthew 5:33-37, Matthew 22:37-38) Matthew 5:33-37 33"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' 34But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 22:37-38 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. |
In today’s world, we can see people misusing God’s name in various form such as condemning his name, in daily communication that are not appropriate to use his name such as swearing, when hearing a bad thing, people say “Oh my God!” with exclamation mark. There are also people who misuse his name when they say “God told me you must do this and that.”, such as giving large sum of money. Because of the misuse of God’s name, some people suffer great losses in wealth and also their loved ones because they believe in these people. Be careful, God has warned us not to misuse his name. If you see people using his name and are in doubt, pray about it. May God give you discernment whether is this appropriate.
Old Testament Book (Exodus 20) 4th Law 8"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
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New Testament Book (Matthew 22:37-38, Hebrews 4:9-10) Matthew 22:37-38 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. Hebrews 4:9-10 9There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. |
The 4th Law is keeping the Sabbath day holy. If you are Christian you should know what is a Sabbath day. For non-Christian, Sabbath day means a day of rest which God told us in Exodus 20 verse 8 to 11 is the fourth commandment. God told us we need to keep our Sabbath day once a week which is mostly Sunday for most of us today as rest day keeping it holy. Don’t do any work as we have work 6 days and the 7th day is a Sabbath day to the Lord our God. God reference it to what He did when he made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them in 6 days. After 6 days of work, he rested on the seventh day. Therefore Sabbath day is a rest day, a holy day. If you love God, you will obey God and have a rest day once a week.
Sabbath day don’t have to be on Sunday. In the past, early Christian have their Sabbath day on Saturday. It can be any day of the week as long as there is a day of rest for the week. Another meaning for us Christian about Sabbath rest is the eternal rest that Jesus promise will be given for all believers which is found in Hebrews 4:9-10 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Once you become Christian, you have eternal rest, eternal peace. It refers to both life while in this earth and life after this earth. While living in this earth, you rely on God with your prayers that He will answer them. You are at rest while God is at work. Sometimes people rely on their own works to try to get what they want, to fix things. They didn’t turn to God. Trust Jesus Christ. Rest from fear, rest from toil and trouble, rest from sorrow. If you entrust your situation to God, you are at rest. Let God handle it. Probably this may be the first time you hear of this kind of rest. I will like you to remember it and share with others. It will be helpful to you and others. The final rest is the eternal rest that God promise when we see Him after life in this earth.
Old Testament Book (Exodus 20) 5th Law 12"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
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New Testament Book (Ephesians 6:1-3, Matthew 22:39-40) Ephesians 6:1-3 1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"--which is the first commandment with a promise-- 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." Matthew 22:39-40 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." |
Now let’s talk about the 5th law which is honor your parents. The fifth commandment is about filiality to honor your father and mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. God wants the Israelites to respect and honor their parents so they can live a long life in the promise land. For us Christian today, this verse is applicable to us too. We need to love, respect, honor our parents while they are still alive in this earth as can be seen by the New Testament in Ephesians 6:1-3. When you are genuinely caring for your parents, God knows. He will bless your future. Even though, you might be having hardship difficult time now, do not fear. For He will restore you. For some of you, you may have parents you don’t get along. Jesus reminds us in the 2nd commandment in New Testament that you need to love your neighbor as yourself. Those of you who are not talking with your parents, remember Jesus said you need to love your father and mother. Go and reconcile with them. Forgive them for their sins against you. Pray to God about your situation that He may give you strength, grace, love. Pray also for your parents for forgiveness of their sins.
Old Testament Book (Exodus 20) 6th Law 13"You shall not murder.
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New Testament Book (Matthew 5:21-26, 5:38-48, Matthew 22:39-40) 21"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. 25"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. 38"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. 43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 22:39-40 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." |
The six commandment is about murder. God warns his people not to have murder. Murder is killing others physically or mentally. You might be asking murder can be mentally? Never heard of it. Yes, murder can be mental torture which is like killing you. Example is when others get angry with you, they scolded you or do things that hurt you even though you are not at wrong. You feel deeply hurt. Anger is like murder. Anger can sometimes lead one to kill others out of revenge, upset. Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22 “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. Jesus reference anger is murder in this verse. So do not become angry as it can cause you to do rash act that can harm you and others. Now let me tell you what is happening in one country Albania about murder.
In Albania, Kanun Law an ancient traditional customary law since 15th century which says murder for murder. One person may kill another to avenge an earlier murder. Revenge killing. The moment someone is killed, according to the law, the blood is paid. It then becomes the victim family’s turn to decide if they will continue to take revenge. This kanun law came from a man call Lekë Dukagjini, a 15th century nobleman known as the Angel Prince, and upheld by the tribes of Northern Albania originally. These tribes are mainly Christian and kept the kanun as their law, orally transferring it for centuries. The word kanun comes from the Greek word for canon "κανών" meaning law. In 1913 a Franciscan priest started the first transcription of the kanun which was published in 1933.
Even though the Albanian state abolished by law the customary practices of kanun law since communist regime in Albania from 1946 to 1991, kanun law came back in 1990s as they had anarchy which lead to people turning to kanun to fix dispute. People rejected governmental authority in favor of self-governing back then. Sadly, Albernia kanun law is still practice today. This is forcing generations of Albanians, anyone related to the murderer including the murderer relatives into their own home prisons. They can’t step out of their own house not even the yard. Children can’t go out of the house because of their family member murder of others. The children never go out for many years staying at home from little age to teenage years into adulthood. They lock themselves unwillingly at home to protect themselves. They worry everyday they will be murder. These children and the adults they don't have any life. They don’t know what is happening in the outside world. Some don’t even have television at home. The children rely on teachers to come to their home to teach them. They never step out of their house to go to school. Those who do not avenge the killing of their loved ones often lose respect in their community and suffer exclusion. In some areas, the tradition of “coffee under the knee” still exists, whereby on feast or wedding days coffee is not served at the table but at the level of the feet for those who did not avenge their killed relative. This make it very disgraceful to them. All these things happening in Albania is disheartening.
Albania people need to know God’s word that tell us not to murder. Both the old testament and the new testament law never mention that you can murder. The old testament law mention no murder. They need to know God. What His word really mean. They misinterpret the Bible teaching on murder. In Matthew Chapter 5 verse 38 says 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' and verse 39 say “Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” They base on this to justify for revenge killing. Some victim children who did not avenge their dad’s murder end up committing suicide as they face mockery, bullying from other children. Some murderer’s children commit suicide because of their parent sins. Guilt.
God never say to have revenge killing or to commit suicide in this 2 verses. They have totally misunderstand it. God said is sin to murder. But if anyone commit any sin, Jesus say in Matthew Chapter 5 verse 22 to 25, you need to forgive them. Anyone has anger in them will face judgement. You need to reconcile with the person that hurt you. Jesus also said in Matthew verse 44 to 45 to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
May the Albanian realize their mistakes for murder and turn to God, the murderers and their victims families to reconcile.
The seven commandment God warn us not to have adultery. What is the meaning of adultery? You might be saying having girlfriend outside of marriage. According to Cambridge dictionary, adultery is sex between a married man or woman and someone he or she is not married to. How about what did Jesus said about adultery? Let’s look at Matthew 5:28.
Old Testament Book (Exodus 20) 7th Law 14"You shall not commit adultery.
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New Testament Book (Matthew 5:27-32, Matthew 22:39-40) 27"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. 31"It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' 32But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. Matthew 22:39-40 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." |
Jesus said that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. You might be shock to hear this. Adultery already when you lustfully look at other pretty woman? Yes. This is what Jesus said. He went on to say if your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Does this mean one need to really take out eye, part of body because that part sin? No. We do not need to cut any part of our body. Everybody sins. We either sin with our eyes or our hands or both. Jesus is not speaking literally. What Jesus saying is a metaphor we use sometimes in our words. Example is “This takes forever”, when we wait in a long queue. Jesus is telling us to do some other things, make better choices. Giving up things that cause us to sin example a relationship that is not right which might hurt others as well.
Even though God says marriage is between 1 man and 1 woman when He formed human. Because of human sins, people have divorce and marry other woman. Some even have many wives in old testament. Because the Jews men were giving divorce paper to their wife even though their wife did not commit any adultery, Jesus said in Matthew 5:32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. What this means is that the divorce wife if she was divorce not because of adultery, she is still considered as still married to her husband even though he divorce her and gave her divorce paper. Divorce only valid when the wife commit adultery. If the husband has adultery or doesn’t like his wife any more, he gave her divorce paper, this is not accepted as divorce as the wife is innocent, she is not the one who committed adultery. Anyone who marries this divorce woman commits adultery and this divorce woman commits adultery with her new marriage to the man.
What God really wants is a faithful relationship between man and wife. Only 1 marriage. Jesus wants His church which he calls his bride to be pure and holy. Jesus is the bridegroom. That is why Christian need to be pure and holy and churches have been counselling married couples to stay married when the marriage is at the rocks. Remember God also said Love your neighbor as yourself.
Even though God has given the commandments not to have murder and adultery, we see people in the bible they get murdered and murder results in bad consequences. Yet people still commit this sin. One of them who committed both murder and adultery is King David. King David after he got Uriah’s wife Bathsheba pregnant, he sent his men to get Uriah be killed in the battlefield frontline. God knew what he did and sent prophet Nathan to confront him and told King David his son will not live. This can be found in In 2 Samuel Chapter 12. King David & Bathsheba’s baby son died shortly after his birth. God also said that there will be people in King David’s family who will die by the sword, because he did not respect God; he took the wife of Uriah the Hittite for himself!’.God also said He will bring trouble to King David from his own family. He will take King David’s wives and give them to someone who is very close to him. He will have sexual relations with King David’s wives, and everyone will see this scene in public.
God’s promises came true. King David lost his eldest son Amnon and his third son Absalom. Absalom rebelled against his father King David as he did not do anything when his sister Tamar got raped by his half-brother Amnon. Absalom after two years of keeping silent over the rape incident, he sent his men to kill Amnon and went into hiding from his dad King David. He lead a rebellion against King David, creating an army, speaking against him to his people. Absalom also slept with King David’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. Later he was killed by King David’s man Joab when he found out that Absalom got entangled with his hair on a tree while his mule that he wrote on ran away leaving Absalom hanging in the air, helpless. So we can see from King David’s disobedience to God’s commandments resulted in disastrous consequences. We can also see Absalom had lots of anger, range in him over many years that lead him to killing his brother Amnon and repel against his father King David. Anger is murder. Anger leads to murder. Absalom had broke the six commandment.
With this knowledge, I hope you will be able to control your anger and not to do anything that hurt others.
Old Testament Book (Exodus 20) 8th Law 15"You shall not steal. 10th Law 17"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." |
The eight commandment is you shall not steal. I will also talk about the ten commandment about coveting others belonging which can lead to stealing. Stealing other people things that do not belong to you is a sin. One man that steal in the old testament is Achan found in Joshua 7. Achan stole devoted things to the Lord. He stole a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels. He hid them but God knew. God grew angry and when the Israelites went to battle against Ai, they lost the battle even though the Israelite army was more than Ai. Joshua was upset over his men death, their lost and inquire God about their lost. God told him is because Israel had sinned; they had violated his covenant, which he commanded them to keep. They had taken some of the devoted things; they had stolen, they had lied, they had put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they had been made liable to destruction. God then instructed Joshua that He will not be with them anymore unless they killed the people that steal. Achan was found to be one of the Israelites that stole against God. Because Achan and others coveted and steal, they were stoned and burn to death.
Things that belong to God cannot be taken away. If taken away without God’s approval is stealing. So people cannot covet over the wealth of the church and take away for their own use. Be careful.
Now let’s talk about today’s context example. People work hard for their things, their food, their belongings and someone come and steal them. Is heart breaking to see this happening. Recently in Singapore, there are some scams going on. People lose their money to scammers who claim to be from banks, government authorities, online marketplaces. There are some who lost their money from get rich scheme from crypto currency scammers and people who promise them jobs. Millions of dollars are lost and lives get shatter. Some scammers were caught but there are others who get away with it as they are overseas scammers that are difficult to find. These scammers will face consequences from God as they have broken God’s law.
In Central America, there are illegal cutting of trees in forest, burning them. Some Guatemala people went to Belize Chiquibul National Park Forest illegally, which is not their country. They go through the forest and clear the forest to make land, cutting down trees burning them for cattle ranching and planting agriculture crops like corn, beans, pumpkin for food. They destroy large areas of wildlife habitat. They did this because they are facing drought in their country. Crops they grow are not growing. Even though, they are facing hardship in their country, they should not turn to entering and stealing other people land illegally and grow their own crops. In Indonesia, there is illegal logging. People cut down trees for timber illegally for money. This is stealing too.
Do you know there are people stealing human too? This is known as human trafficking and slave trade. There are still slaves trade in this world. Libya has people capturing African refugees, migrants escaping to Europe making them become slaves. They are openly auction as slaves in open air-markets. Children are not spared. Once captured, all of them become slaves and have to work. Some days, they are not given bread. Only water. Some people died because of hunger, torture. People are leaving Africa because they couldn’t find work, no fish for fishermen to catch. They want to get out of poverty, hunger, changing climate and conflict. Looking to illegal migration to Europe but some end up becoming captured slaves. Many died as slaves or at sea. Few make it to Europe which is the promise land to them.
There are a few countries having human trafficking, they kidnap children, women and sold them to other countries. Some men and women are conned with lucrative jobs promises overseas but they end up as prostitutes, doing harsh work, become scammers conning people. They couldn’t escape. All these are stealing and coveting. Coveting lead to bad things happening.
What did the New Testament Law teach us how to deal with stealing problem?
Old Testament Book (Exodus 20) 8th Law 15"You shall not steal.
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New Testament Book (Matthew 5:42, Ephesians 4:28, Matthew 22:39-40) Matthew 5:42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Ephesians 4:28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Matthew 22:39-40 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." |
Old Testament Book (Exodus 20) 10th Law 17"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
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New Testament Book (Matthew 22:39-40) 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." |
Matthew 5:42 tell us to give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. This is important as if one ask you for help and you do not help, that person might turn to stealing if he really needs money.
For those who used to be thieves, God said in Ephesians 4:28 you must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with your own hands, that you may have something to share with those in need.
The reason why one steal because that person has coveted something. Longing to get that thing and they turn to stealing. Stop coveting will help to prevent from stealing. To stop this coveting, all of us need to remember to love our neighbor as ourself to prevent from any temptation to steal.
Old Testament Book (Exodus 20) 9th Law 16"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. |
The 9th commandment is you shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. False testimony can lead to deadly consequence hurts to the victim. Some may end up in death. We see people in the Bible the pharisees & Jews in Mark 14:55-64 falsely accusing Jesus he is not the Messiah, he is not son of God, he will destroy the temple in 3 days and in three days will build another temple, not made with hands. Even though Jesus did not do anything wrong, all these false accusation cause him to be crucify to death.
Old Testament Book (Exodus 20) 9th Law 16"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
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New Testament Book (Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 22:39-40) 43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 22:39-40 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." |
What shall we do when others falsely accuse us today?
Follow what Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 22:39-40. That is to love our enemy as well and pray for those who persecute us. Be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.
If you are tempted to give any falsely accusation to others, remember Jesus said “Love your neighbor as yourself.' You don’t want other people to falsely accuse you too. Would you want to be hurt too and suffer? I believe you do not want to. So don’t give any false accusation to anyone.
I have covered today all the 10 commandments God’s law and showed you that the Old Testament Law can be found in New Testament too and is still valid today. If you know of anyone who has any doubts that is not valid today, please share this sermon to them. They need to realize their mistake not to obey God’s law.
Come let’s pray.
Dearest Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ,
Thank you for your word today. Thank you for showing us that your laws the 10 commandments are still valid today. Forgive us as we have not completely obey you. Thank you for your reminder what we as your children your bride needs to obey all your laws and remember them. We will only worship you our God, there shall not be any other gods or idols in our lives. We will not misuse your name. We will remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy a rest day for us. We will turn to you for our Sabbath rest in our difficult situations. Trusting in you that you will help us. We will honor our parents respecting them, loving them, taking care of them. We will not murder, not get angry, not commit adultery, not steal. We will not covet others belongings. We will not give false testimony against our neighbor. Help us O Lord we will be able to keep all your commandments. We will love you more than any other things or anyone else. Reminds us before we commit any sin to stop us from sinning against you.
May all of us have clear conscience that we will conduct ourselves well in this world, in the holiness and sincerity that are from you O Lord. We will not be blinded by worldly desires that turn against you. We will love and look after our neighbor as ourself. Governments will look after citizen health and life welfare. Citizens will play their part in looking after the environment. All of us will do our part to make this world a better place to live in. May this new year 2023 be a good year of obedience to you that we can enjoy your abundant blessings.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Happy New Year.
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Happy New Year.