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"Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
you also, as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" |
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Many people today have the Law and the Gospel backwards. They think that they need to keep the Law in order to become Christians. As a result they are frustrated with failure, shame and guilt. They don’t understand why the Gospel does not work in their experience. Their problem is that they are getting the proverbial cart before the horse. Salvation is by the Grace of God alone, received by Faith alone. We do not keep the Law in order to be saved. We keep the Law because we are saved. |
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John said: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I’m not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:11-12 “For our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29 When the Lord made His Covenant with Abraham He revealed Himself as a burning torch (Genesis 15:17-18). God revealed Himself to Moses through the Burning Bush (Exodus 3:2-14). |
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In 1815 all of Europe agonized in suspense waiting for news of the impending battle between the Duke of Wellington and the French emperor Napoleon. For over 25 years Europe had been convulsed by the French Revolution, the mass executions of French nobles, the guillotine, and two decades of Napoleonic wars, which had turned all of Europe into a battlefield. And, just when they had thought that the threat was over, with Napoleon defeated and in exile on Elba, Napoleon had returned, mustered a huge army and marched to destroy the British Army under the Duke of Wellington. People waited in great anticipation for news of the critical battle, which would decide the future of all of them. |
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Covetousness is a root sin. The Bible records how King Saul was jealous of David’s success and coveted the praise and honour which David received for his victories (1 Samuel 18:6-8). As a result King Saul plotted to murder David. King David coveted the wife of his neighbour Uriah. He committed adultery with Bethsheba and then connived to have Uriah killed to cover up his treachery (2 Samuel 11:1-27). |
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Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. God’s Word is Truth. “You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free.” John 8:32. God is Truth. Therefore we should be honest. God hates lying lips, but He delights in those who deal truthfully (Proverbs 12:22). St. Augustine had a sign on his desk that declared: “Whosoever enters this office to bring an accusation against his brother will be ushered out of this room.” Augustine took the Ninth Commandment seriously. He declared “The tongue inflicts greater wounds than the sword.” The great Reformer, John Calvin declared: “No greater injury can be inflicted upon men than to ruin their reputation.” |
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The Eighth Commandment cuts across the thieving spirit of our age. Recent surveys have found that three out of ten prospective employees admit to having stolen from their previous employer! 24% of taxpayers admit to having lied and cheated on their income tax returns. 22% of workers feel that stealing from their company is “sometimes justified.” 33% of employees surveyed confessed to falsely phoning in sick and collecting pay for days they pretended to be sick but weren’t. |
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What do you think of this social analysis? I recently came across this commentary: “Sexual anarchy is here. It has assumed extreme forms and spread throughout a large part of the population, side by side with an increase of sexual perversions; a shameless sexual promiscuity has also increased…adultery, rape and prostitution have greatly increased. Homosexuality has entered the mores of the population and contemporary authors seem to sadistically enjoy the enumeration of a variety of….sexual perversions.” When do you think that social commentary was written? Would you suppose it was written by Dr. James Dobson in last month’s Focus on the Family bulletin? Could this have perhaps been written by Errol Naidoo to describe contemporary South Africa? No, the writer of this particular article lived 4,500 years ago, approximately 2,500 BC, in ancient Egypt! |
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Exodus 20:13 
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If there is one Commandment which the majority of people think they have never transgressed, it is the Sixth Commandment. “You shall not murder.” Exodus 20:13. Murder is considered to be a minority crime. Yet as Christ taught us in the Sermon on the Mount, hatred is also a breach of this Commandment. In fact as one considers the fullest implications of the Sixth Commandment and the family of offences that it covers, this is a most relevant Commandment for this murderous age. There are so many ways in which this Commandment is violated on a daily basis. |
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Ephesians 6:1-8 
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The first four Commandments deal with our duty to God. The last six Commandments deal with our duty to man. Our Lord Jesus Christ summarised the two tablets of the Law when He answered the question concerning which is the greatest Commandment. Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great Commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the prophets.’” Matthew 22:36-40 |
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It would appear that never before in history have so many people been so busy. No other generation has had so many labour-saving and time saving devices, and yet it would appear that our generation is one of the most rushed and frantic generations in all of history. One would have thought that with our electricity and plumbing, refrigerators, stoves, kettles, microwaves, dishwashing machines, clothes washing machines, vacuum cleaners, drive-through car washes, personal computers, laptops, Blackberry’s, cell phones, and every other kind of labour and time saving device, that we would be less rushed and have more free time. |
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“…a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give an account of it in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:33-37 Words are very important. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 The first petition of the Lord’s Prayer is: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name.” Matthew 6:9 |
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Throughout the Bible commandments and warnings against idolatry are the most repeated of all. There are more denunciations of idolatry than any other sin in the Bible. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image…you shall not bow down to then nor serve them.” Exodus 20:4-6 “Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods; I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:4 “Thus says the Lord God: repent and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For everyone…which setteth up his idols in his heart…I the Lord will answer him by Myself.” Ezekiel 14:6-7 |
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Colossians 1:18 
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A group of Theological students were given an assignment to rearrange the Ten Commandments in order of priority. There was general consensus that the most important commandments should be: “You shall not murder.” They also agreed that the second most important would be: “You shall not steal.” The third most important commandment was: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.” However, there was a division as to which was the least important commandment. Half of the students felt that the least important commandment was: “You shall not commit adultery.” The other half selected “You shall have no other gods before Me” as the least significant. After some further discussion the class agreed to put the “You shall have no other gods before Me” as the least important of the Ten Commandments. |
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