|
LESSON 1, THE FIRST
COMMANDMENT:
In one of the
most attacked Texts ever written, God plainly said to Moses:
"And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy
God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
Exodus 20:1-3
Here Almighty
God establishes the fact that He alone is to be our Object of
worship!
The verb "spake"
is in Hebrew spelled "dabar." In its major forms, all using the
three consonants "dbr," several word families are found.
Foremostly it means "to declare, converse, command, promise or
talk." Yet it can also mean "pestilence!" That's what happens
when we do NOT obey God's Commands! Thirdly, it can indicate
"pasture" also! That's what happens to a soul that follows and
submits to God's Word, peace and nourishing fulfillment!
Notice the
Name by which God issues this First Commandment. He is "the Lord
thy God." Specifically these Names are "Jehovah" and "Elohim"
respectively.
Jehovah is the
Name of God usually associated with His saving ability, His
covenant nature, His love and grace! And Elohim is His Name that
indicates power and might!
Realize that
initially these Commands were given to God's Own people! They
were NOT for the world at large, at least not in this Text. God
is the God of Moses and his people! THEY are to follow His
rules!
I know we are
saved by Grace! I know we are kept by Grace! BUT that does not
alleviate our need to obey the Lord God Almighty! In fact, Jesus
gave us commandments by which to live also! Not to mention Paul!
I once taught a Bible Study series on "The Commandments Of Paul"
and thought I would never complete the task! Some of you
Preachers look at how many times Paul uses the imperative mood
in his preaching!
Next God
capitalizes upon a practical aspect of His two major Names.
"I brought thee out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage" said the Lord. The Lord was
the Agent Who delivered His people from Egypt. That "bringing
them out" involved blood sacrifice too, the blood of an innocent
little lamb! The noun "bondage" translates "ebed," meaning slave
or slavery. Our great God redeemed us and delivered us ... then
taught us how to live!
No one will
ever understand God's Commandments until he does so through the
lens of His salvation!
We are
saved to serve the dear Lord!
Then here it
comes, the first of the Ten Commandments:
"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."
This precept
is under attack today in America, perhaps as never before in all
our history.
As a lad
growing up in the southern United States, at least in my little
world, these words were LAW! No one would have ever even
remotely thought of any other god! There is but One! He is the
Lord God of Heaven and earth, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, of
the Holy Scriptures!
The idea of
the verb here, "shalt have," is interesting. "Haya" means "to be
or to exist." God is telling us that life itself for the
Believer consists of knowing God and loving God and obeying God!
The verb's "incomplete action" reveals that God is to be our
Only God ... from now on ... for the rest of our lives ... then
into eternity!
The
prohibitive "no" is so important that it is the first word in
the Hebrew Text of verse three! Often sentence position
demonstrates priority of meaning or distinct emphasis in ancient
languages.
God is here
demanding exclusiveness!
He alone is to
be worshipped!
Then the word
for "gods," as opposed to The One True God, to Jehovah, is "elohim"
again! Only the context of a verse, with the Holy Spirit's
leading of course, can a student tell who is meant by this great
noun.
Usually it is
Elohim God, our great Creator and Redeemer!
Occasionally
it is one of the gods, false gods, of this world!
But that's the
whole point today.
The gods of
our age are claiming to be and to do all that the True God is
and does! They are usurping His Place!
And He,
Jehovah Elohim, forbids it!
Friend,
sometime today get alone with God and acknowledge His
uniqueness, His power, His saving grace! Thank Him for being the
One Who is unlike any other! The only True God!
Then freshly
pledge yourself to Him forevermore!
God ahead and
promise Him!
Vow to have no
other gods in your life ... at all!
Amen!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 2, NO OTHER
GODS:
The first of the Ten Commandments is
the special target of today's liberal and godless culture!
Our God
clearly said: "Thou shalt have no other
gods before me." Those words are recorded in Exodus 20:3.
The very
thought!
That God
should require exclusive worship!
There may be
several reasons why this Command is so grievously neglected in
our time ... and so viciously attacked.
First of all,
the Bible is no longer accepted as God's perfect Word! Enemies
of the Scriptures have questioned its very historical
foundations and spiritual pertinence! If the Bible is not the
Word of God, they wrongly reason, why should we obey it?
Still God
demands: "Thou shalt have no other gods
before Me."
There's
another reason why Jehovah God, the God of Israel, is no longer
exclusively worshipped in our land. Multitudes have flooded into
our country from every corner of the globe, bringing their gods
with them! Moses warned about this in places like Deuteronomy
6:14. "Ye shall not go after other gods,
of the gods of the people which are round about you."
Every conceivable religion and church one can imagine exists on
our soil these days. Yet there remains but one True God, the God
of the Bible.
Still God
demands: "Thou shalt have no other gods
before Me."
A third issue
may be Jewish in nature. The God of Scripture is the God of
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph! Jews are they all! And
Anti-Semitism is raging across the world! To despise anything
with a Hebrew influence is in vogue nowadays! That might include
Jehovah God as well!
Still God
demands: "Thou shalt have no other gods
before Me."
Then comes the
rise of feminism! Fanatical radical fundamental activist
feminism is of the devil! Such folks have introduced a hatred
for what they call patriarchy! That means anything led by a man!
And, in case you have not noticed, God is a Man! Our Heavenly
Father presents a masculine Nature! These rebellious females
will not have it! They have reverted to a heathen concept of
less civilized days, a mother goddess to compete with Almighty
God! She will receive their allegiance!
Still God
demands: "Thou shalt have no other gods
before Me."
Then the
atheists have had their say! And, while now a dying breed, their
"no god" theories have had a detrimental impact on true
religion. "Separation of church and state" they demand, while
really meaning "separation of God and state" or "separation of
holiness and state!" Their frivolous lawsuits, when heard in
front of pagan judges, always seem to reach the same verdict!
God is "out!" And the religion of secularism is "in!"
Still God
demands: "Thou shalt have no other gods
before Me."
The nation can
go any direction it chooses, apparently away from God!
But for me and
my house, we shall serve the Lord!
He, and He
alone, is my God!
I say so
unashamedly!
How about you?
I will have no
other gods before Him, before the Lord God Almighty of the
Bible, our Creator and Redeemer!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 3, THE SECOND
COMMANDMENT:
The Lord in
His omniscient Wisdom forbids our making any material "images"
to serve and worship! Idolatry is expressly forbidden!
God wants us
to know Him "in spirit and in truth," not in silver and gold or
wood and stone!
He furthermore
prohibits the use of icons that would become "mediums" of
adoration and praise, even praise ultimately directed toward our
True Lord Himself!
Let's examine
the Text where such prohibitions are written.
In Exodus 20:4
God states: "Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is
in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or
that is in the water under the earth."
The word for
"graven image" is "pecel" and is derived from the root verb "pasal"
which means "to hew or hack or cut into shape." In the culture
of the Old Testament world such idols were made by hand! Isaiah
40:18-20 describes the process. "To whom
then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto
him? The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith
spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that
is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a
tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning
workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be
moved."
The noun
"likeness" translates "temunah" and means "semblance or form."
It, according to Psalm 17:15 is what we Believers will some day
enjoy in the eternal future. We will literally see God's
"likeness!" In Psalm 17:15 David says: "As
for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be
satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness."
The
distinctive features of this commandment must be noticed too. No
images are allowed ... of things in heaven above, earth beneath
or underwater! See God's "separate" categories of creation? God
made things in order ... and intends them to stay that way! Our
Lord is NOT the Author of confusion! Mankind today, including
the feminists, are determined to "mix" what God has separated!
Now one might
ask: "What's the big deal here?"
Why not some
little "image" to aid in worship?
Well, God
further warns us: "Thou shalt not bow down
thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am
a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children unto the third and fourth generation of them
that hate me." Exodus 20:5
To "bow down"
before such idols translates "shachah" and means "worship"
nearly a hundred times in the King James Bible! It also means
"to reverence, to do obeisance, to reverence, to stoop or to
crouch."
To worship
such dead chunks of stone or silver is to invoke God's holy and
jealous wrath! He will "visit" that iniquity, that disobedience,
that false worship upon a man's children for generations! "Paqad"
means to visit in this sense: "to number reckon or punish!"
"Iniquity,"
with its Hebrew root being spelled "avon," means that which is
twisted or bent ... deviated from its original shape! I know a
good word to describe it: perverted!
Yes, children
can reap the foul consequences of their father's actions!
The exciting
point however is that one's children can also reap the blessings
of a godly Father's life, perhaps to a thousand generations
here! In Exodus 20:6 God promises He will be ...
"Shewing mercy unto thousands of them that
love me, and keep my commandments."
The verb
"hate" (in Hebrew = "sane") speaks of one's very enemies
or foes and is so translated six times in Scripture.
This is
serious business!
To practice
idolatry is to hate God!
It also is to
bring judgment upon one's children!
It most
certainly is also blatant rebellion against the Almighty!
And it invokes
the Lord's holy burning jealousy! A jealousy that exists for our
own good! To protect us!
Now ... we
must meet God, the only Real God, in the pages of Holy
Scripture. That's Scripture where we learn to love, adore and
worship Him spiritually as He is revealed to us! And through the
Word we also experience the power and illumination of the Holy
Spirit Who, by the way, is divine too!
No "images"
please!
I'll just
worship the Real God, the Awesome Creator, the Loving Redeemer
of Scripture!
By the way, He
has now been most clearly revealed through His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ!
That's Jesus,
Who according to Paul in Hebrews 1:3 is ...
"the Brightness of God's glory, and
the Express Image of His Person."
Amen!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 4, NO GRAVEN
IMAGES:
It's quite plain!
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
image" says the Lord God Almighty in the second of His
great Ten Commandments.
But today this
lost world has long since either forgotten these words ... or
blatantly rebelled against them.
You see, if
mankind disregards the first commandment, the one where God says
"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me,"
he will invariably invent a god of his own making!
And the god
man devises will be one that can be see and
touched and idolized!
Think of the
golden calf in the days of Aaron and Moses!
Ever since,
man has been creating his own gods!
I recently
learned of a whole religious group in America whose "icon,"
whose "idol," is a serpent! They worship the thing! It's not
difficult to figure the origin of that one!
In certain
pagan religions dolls and miniature charms are worshipped. I
mean placed on mantles or makeshift alters and honored and
reverenced!
Of course
affluent folks might not always sink to those depths!
Instead they
worship more prestigious gods!
Here's one
idol of our day: $
Did you get
it? $$$
Money!
The god of
this age!
Furthermore
some so-called religious "traditions" venerate and pray to
certain little statutes they call "saints!" These are still just
idols if they claim a person's heart and soul and mind and
emotions!
Then enter the
post-modernists. They worship nothing or no one ... but
themselves! Picture a man ... or a woman, there's god! So will
they brashly tell you! Still, this is reprobate idolatry!
The western
world is also rapidly bowing before the altar of sex. Illicit,
twisted perverted sex! The images of pornography, naked men or
women, have become the gods for multitudes!
Modern culture
has become no different than the Greek-Roman world of Paul's
time. "Now while Paul waited for them at
Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city
wholly given to idolatry." They even had an idol to an
"unknown god," just in case they had missed him or her!
"For as I passed by, and beheld your
devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE
UNKNOWN GOD" said Paul in Acts 17:23.
I personally
wonder if even in professing Christianity there's not some
"idol" worship! Let me announce something. The Cross is NOT
where Jesus is nowadays! He is risen! And there is not one thing
holy about a church "steeple" either! In fact, it may have a
rather sensual history!
Folks, it is
not the things that were around Jesus that we worship!
It is Jesus
Himself, the darling Son of God!
God the Father
"is a Spirit" said Jesus in John 4:24.
He is
"invisible" added Paul in Colossians 1:15.
He cannot be
represented by an image or idol!
It is
forbidden!
And no matter
what lost mankind next produces, if it does not focus on Jesus
... and it won't ... it is idolatrous!
For you see,
Jesus ... and Jesus Alone ... is the Image
of that Invisible God!
Again in
Colossians 1, speaking of God's dear Son, Paul adds;
"In Whom we have redemption through His Blood, even the
forgiveness of sins: Who
is the Image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of every
creature: For by Him were all things created."
Amen!
That's why
Jesus could say to His Disciples: "He that
hath seen Me hath seen the Father." John 14:9
I need no
graven image today!
That's sin!
I have Jesus!
And I don't
even need a picture of Him!
He is quite
clearly presented ... in the precious Word of God!
Worship Him
today!
Hallelujah!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 5, THE THIRD
COMMANDMENT:
The Bible
commands us: "Thou shalt not take the name
of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain." Exodus 20:7
The verb
"take" is spelled "nasa" and means "to lift up" or just "to
bear" something. Grammatically speaking, to take God's Name in
any manner involves "lifting it up" with some specific interest.
To simply "speak" the Name of our great Lord Jesus ... we need
to reverently be aware of its meaning and worshipfully elevate
its significance in our lives!
The Hebrew
noun for "name" here is "shem." It, in addition to a person's
name, indicates his fame, reputation, renown or even character!
Both Lord
(Jehovah) and God (Elohim) are here used as proper Names for the
Divine Being we worship. Jehovah implies His saving Nature and
God relates to His awesome Power!
The term
"vain" is spelled "shav" in Hebrew means that
which is empty or worthless! It can also imply "lying," stark untruth!
To speak God's
Name with no respect and acknowledgement of Its value ... is to
speak It with emptiness and to consider it worthless!
Such rude
speech will not be treated lightly by our Lord. He will not hold
such perpetrators "guiltless," which translates "naqah" and means
unpunished or acquitted! God will not ignore such disobedient
speech! Judgment is coming!
Again, God's Name
represents His character, His essence, His very being.
Treat Him
reverently!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 6,
thou shalt NOT
TAKE GOD'S NAME IN VAIN:
The wild world
in which we live has lost all sense of respect!
Unless you
mean reverence for a woman's right to murder her unborn baby!
Or a sissy
"effeminate" man's right to flaunt the Laws of God concerning
marriage and childbearing!
Or an
anti-American's so-called privilege to burn the flag or curse
Almighty God!
But in the
United States where I was reared things were different.
God's Name was
never vainly heard on the television or radio. Even the
newspapers, today's citadels of secularism, did not spill
irreverence toward the Almighty!
To be head
saying "God" in a secular way ... even in the forth or fifth
grades of elementary school ... would bring certain and sudden
rebuke from a Christian teacher!
No, back then
"Christian teacher" was NOT an oxymoron!
But today few
television programs are fully aired without God or Jesus or
Christ being mentioned casually, if not downright
sacrilegiously!
Even at Church
now often one hears God's Name being taken vainly!
"Lordy, Lordy!"
used to be a term of exasperation! It also is a vain use of
Jehovah's Name!
I even think
we preachers can far too carelessly use one of God's Great Names
in vain ... even when in the pulpit! "Bless God this" and "less
God that" can become a habitual expression ... more than a term
of reverence.
And who would
have ever thought that "Jesus" would become an empty by-word?
And I have not
even mentioned the "by-words" or substitute terms that imply
God's Name. "Gosh" and "Gee" and "Gee-Whiz" and "Jeeze" all are
synonymous terms that use God's Name casually and in vain.
Christian
friends, let us not be guilty!
Let's ask the
dear Lord to help us discipline ourselves so that each time we
utter that "ineffable" Name (unexplainable, so great that it's
incomprehensible) we do so with respect and forethought and
intelligence and reverence!
Amen!
So my last
sentence here is written with forethought and honor: "Lord,
hallowed be Thy Name!"
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 7, THE FOURTH
COMMANDMENT:
The Text
reads: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep
it holy." Those words are found in Exodus 20:8.
The verb
"remember" here translates "zakar" which means to recall
or bring to mind or to mention something. It's an infinitive
here in the active voice. The action being pictured is on-going,
continual.
"Sabbath"
means "cessation" in Hebrew. To cease or desist! Thus, it means
"rest!" It was (and still is) the seventh day of the week in the
Jewish calendar.
To keep that
day "holy" ("qodesh" in Hebrew) means to set it apart, to keep
it as a distinctive and different day of the week! To honor the
"apartness" of the day!
Other things
we are told to "remember" in Scripture include: the day of our
redemption (Exodus 13:3)! Past victories God has given us
(Deuteronomy 7:18)! Various judgments God has put upon His
Children (Deuteronomy 24:9)! The diverse attacks from the enemy
(Deuteronomy 25:17)! And the precious Word of God (Joshua 1:13)!
And now,
remember the Lord's Day!
It is simply a
matter of obedience ... or disobedience!
Which will it
be?
Of course
today we worship God on the first day of the week, Sunday, the
day of Jesus' Resurrection!
Yet sill
surely it should be a special and sanctified day of rest and
adoration and praise!
Amen!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 8, REMEMBER
THE SABBATH DAY:
The
idea of a day being "holy" now is
nearly absurd!
I mean to the
world in which we live.
As a child I
remember Dad and Mom would do certain things on Saturday. Mom
cooked Sunday dinner, the meal served right after the Sunday
morning Church service ... somewhere around 1:00 PM or so. Dad
had already put gas in the car so we could make it to Church and
back home, twice! We made sure any prescriptions needed had
been properly filled.
Why?
Because no
service stations were open on Sunday! Or even pharmacies or
grocery stores or nearly anything else!
Oh yes, now I
recall ... the hospitals still operated as did the police and
fire departments!
Yet it was
more complicated than that!
No one at the
Bagwell household ever started a lawn mower on Sunday! Or washed
a car! And, if I remember accurately, no television on the
Lord's Day either!
Again someone
asks, why?
It was the
Lord's Day!
We had all
been taught to honor it and respect the fact of Christ's
Resurrection, which occurred on the first day of the week,
Sunday.
This was all
done in a sweet obedient spirit too ... the spirit of a Bible
command, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy." Exodus 20:8
Nowadays all
that is different!
At the risk of
being called "legalistic" by some, I will voice my opinion too.
I like things the way they used to be!
When the
Lord's Day was special!
When Sunday
was given to worship, church, rest, family and the study of
God's precious Word!
In this young
century ... one day is as good as another! One can curse God
Monday, Wednesday, Friday ... or even Sunday it seems! Or commit
adultery. Or hate, fight and steal. In fact, weekends are
apparently now the peak times for such activities!
America today
has overtly rejected the Ten Commandments of God!
They now, if
publicly displayed, are often declared illegal by our courts!
But since
God's Word has been "excised" from Western society, some things
have at first gradually ... then more rapidly ... fallen to
pieces!
Things like
families divorcing, children killing one another, pornography,
sexual perversion, filthy talk, epidemic theft, and utter lack
of contentment!
Nothing now
can turn this Nation around ... apart from a miracle of Almighty
God!
We have
rejected God's Law a few million times too many!
Woe be unto
our Land!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 9, THE FIFTH
COMMANDMENT:
The Word of
God commands: "Honour thy father and thy
mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD
thy God giveth thee." Exodus 20:12
The opening
verb "honour" is spelled "kabad" and has an unusual meaning! It
literally implies treating something or someone as being "heavy"
or "weighty." This needs some explaining. The idea is that of
holding a person in such high regard that whatever they say
carries great weight with you, whatever they do impacts you
heavily!
Furthermore
the verb is in the piel stem, indicating that the action being
described is to be intensive, dramatic and whole-hearted! It
also is an imperative, clearly iterating a command!
No room for
any disrespect here!
Whom are we to
honour?
Our father and
mother!
Notice this is
a two parent home, God's ideal!
I realize a
parent can tragically die during a child's upbringing. Or one
parent may be unfaithful to another and leave him or her to
raise the youngsters alone. In both of these circumstances the
remaining mate should be respected and treated with dignity.
But God's
original plan was Dad and Mom rearing the children together ...
and being obeyed and respected as they did so.
Why is this so
important to God?
Notice that
the first few commandments focus on our relationship with God
Himself: No other gods before Him, no graven images, no taking
of His Name in vain, remembering His Sabbath. Then realize that
the last few commandments center on man's duty to his fellow
human beings: Don't kill, steal, commit adultery, bear false
witness or covet. But in the middle ... comes this command:
Honor thy father and thy mother!
Why?
Because it
undoubtedly ties the two groups together!
One's attitude
toward his parents is decided by his attitude toward God! If a
man is really right with God ... he will be right with his
parents as well!
That
"authority" figure in a man's life ... bleeds influence upward
or downward to his other relationships.
A man who is
"right" with God will seek to be "right" with his boss, the
local policeman, his pastor and all other authorities who come
into his life!
Then, quickly,
look at the reward for keeping this fifth commandment!
"That thy days may be long upon the land
which the LORD thy God giveth thee." Exodus 20:12b
One will live
longer for obeying his or her Mom and Dad!
It's a
promise!
Several times
God promises length of days for following His Word!
"Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes,
and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may
go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that
thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the
LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever." Deuteronomy 4:40
Even fair and
honest business practices seem to carry this reward!
"But thou shalt have a perfect and just
weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy
days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth
thee." Deuteronomy 25:15
To ignore or
disobey such is to ask for diminished days too!
"When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye
shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt
yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness
of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD
thy God, to provoke him to anger: I call heaven and earth to
witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish
from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye
shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be
destroyed. And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and
ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the
LORD shall lead you." Deuteronomy 4:25-27
Those little
"yes mams" and "yes sirs" are more important than we've ever
imagined!`
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 10, HONOR THY
PARENTS:
There was a day in American history
when the term "parents" meant a Mom and a Dad. During that era
children were actually expected to obey their Mother and Father
too. A loving parent could back then actually discipline his or
her child, lovingly yet firmly. Such adults, one's parents, were
actually considered wise. And surprisingly, all of this occurred
in a context where "family" included a male Daddy and a female
Mother plus usually more than one or two children!
There were
Biblical expectations for each family member.
"Husbands,
love you wives" preached Paul the Apostle!
Love them
"even as Christ loved the Church!"
Be willing to
die for them!
Then to the
ladies, in the presence of such sacrificial love, Paul added:
"Submit yourselves unto your own husbands!"
Even "as unto
the Lord!"
Then comes the
family, the children.
"Children,
obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right."
Then comes the
New Testament's classic restating of the fifth commandment,
"Honour thy father and mother; which is
the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with
thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth."
The Old
Testament reading states: "Honour thy
father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land
which the LORD thy God giveth thee." Exodus 20:12
Today parents
are prosecuted for chastening their children. Or at least they
can be! Do not misunderstand me here. I am NOT advocating
brutality or meanness here, just proper Bible based correction.
But many courts and local governments now totally reject the
idea of parental leadership and discipline!
And the
contemporary media, from pop psychology magazines to television
shows to full length movies, "mock" the idea of a wise parent,
especially the Dad! Many are now portrayed as bumbling idiots,
behind the times and filled with hypocrisy!
Young girls
now grow up and graduate from high school ... not to mention
college ... having learned that motherhood and homemaking are
dirty words nowadays! It's the career woman who is successful!
And children
are a "blight" in our culture. Abort them! Or at least limit
their number! The little devils will create too many problems
and cramp our lascivious lifestyles! Long gone is the idea David
had back in Psalm 127. "Lo, children
are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the
womb is his reward."
By the way, if
parents hate kids and try to eradicate them ... is it little
wonder that kids do not respect such people anymore?
Society is
disintegrating before our very eyes!
One reason,
while certainly not the only one, the terrorists hate us ... the
"religious" terrorists anyway ... is that we are morally rotten
to the core!
And where did
all this "junk" begin, the unraveling of the American way of
life with its original Judeo-Christian principles?
It started
when our families began to break into pieces.
When Mom and
Dad quit being parents ... and when young folks quit respecting
and honoring their elders.
Like it or
not, God is all wise!
He has a
monopoly on truth!
He IS The
Truth! Jesus said so. "I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
And our Lord's attitude toward the Bible:
"Father. Thy Word is Truth." John 17:17
God's "ideas"
are still best!
Including
"Honour thy father and thy mother: that
thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth
thee."
Amen!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 11, THE SIXTH
COMMANDMENT:
We usually
don't think of the Ten Commandments individually. I mean in this
fashion, "Name for me the sixth commandment."
It succinctly
states: "Thou shalt not kill."
Exodus 20:13
The verse is
quite brief.
It's first
word in Hebrew is "lo," which is a negative particle meaning
"not" or "no!" It's place in the sentence suggests emphasis! NO
killing! NO murder!
All ten of the
Commandments are negative except the one about the Sabbath which
we are to "remember" ... and the one about our parents whom we
are to "honour."
The verb
"kill" translates "ratzsah" which actually means "to murder or
slay" someone. Using the Hebrew "piel" stem, the Holy Spirit is
energetically demanding this behavior!
God honors and
respects life.
This
prohibition particularly means human life.
Mankind is
special in the eyes of God!
He is no mere
animal.
He is a unique
being created in the image of God!
As such he is
higher than the brute beasts.
His life is
protected by divine decree!
By the way, if
life begins in the womb ... at conception ... then abortion is a
violation of the sixth commandment.
I believe
Psalm 139 clearly teaches that life, even in the womb, is
ordained of God Who oversees and superintends its development!
Yes, before
birth!
Then, the
abortionist is guilty of killing ... murdering ... the little
baby boy or girl.
Of course that
guilt must be shared by a group of Supreme Court judges also!
They made such atrocity legal!
And the Nation
that sat idly by and allowed it to happen will not go guiltless
either!
"Thou shalt
not Kill" does not apply, I sense, when it comes to defending
one's family or wife or nation for that matter!
It applies to
the deliberate ending of human life.
I can only
think of one more exception. "Whoso
sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the
image of God made he man." God, in Genesis 9:6 here, just
advocated capital punishment!
Again, "Thou
shalt not kill."
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 12, THOU
SHALT NOT KILL:
The Lord God thousands of years ago
taught us "Thou shalt not kill."
Exodus 20:13
This well
known precept basically prohibits murder.
It is one of
the commandments that even the liberals have not attacked! I
don't even know of an atheist who questions the wisdom of this
law. And they are not particularly known for clear thinking!
Yet if we do
not accept the fact that man is created ... created in the image
of God ... and if we hold to the view that man evolved from some
lower life form and is just an advanced beast of some kind ...
murder is a lot harder to restrict!
In the United
States there are about 16,000 murders each year!
That's a lot
of disobedience!
When a man
kills another man or a woman, that's homicide.
When someone
kills a baby, that's infanticide. Even an unborn one I believe!
When a person
kills himself, that's suicide.
When liberal
theologians kill God, which they say that have now done, that
would be called deicide.
When an army
targets a whole group of people, say the Jews for example,
that's called genocide. It is also the deadliest mistake that
army has ever made!
I am told that
when an assassin murders a king, that's regicide.
What a minute!
I have just
realized something.
We sure do
have a lot of terms for murder don't we!
I guess it
takes all these to cover 16,000 deaths a year!
Plus ... in
America "social planners" are already figuring how to commit
more murders!
Legalized
abortion gave them great impetus!
Next expect
euthanasia, even the state mandated kind! That means killing old
folks, especially if they are no longer productive.
And while
you're at it, especially since life operates on Darwin's
"survival of the fittest" motif, kill the handicapped and unfit
and mentally inept also! So say some today. Give the superior
genes a chance!
And since I
mentioned Israel a little earlier, there's always a so-called
world "ruler" advocating their annihilation! Wouldn't that be
mass murder?
And in some
countries today "birth control" is being practiced by pre-natal
murder! Once an unborn baby is discerned to be a little girl,
the least desirable sex in many nations right now, abort her!
That's just an euphemism for "kill" her, you know.
For everyone
to have said they agree with the sixth commandment, there's a
whole lot of killing going on right now!
And get this!
You can't just
pick one commandment and obey it alone!
They all have
linkage.
If number one
is rejected, "Thou shalt have no other
gods before Me," they will all fall eventually!
Mark my words!
Better yet,
mark God's Words!
He more than
once said: "Let thine heart retain my
words: keep my commandments, and live." Proverbs 4:4 and
Proverbs 7:2 and Deuteronomy 8:1 and Deuteronomy 30:16 and ....
Ignoring God's
Ways, boldly rejecting His Commandments, invariably leads to
anarchy, chaos, and ... according to the verses I just mentioned
... death!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 13, THE
SEVENTH COMMANDMENT:
The Bible
prohibits adultery.
It's a sin!
Exodus 20:13
briefly says: "Thou shalt not commit
adultery."
While this
verb is not an imperative, it certainly forbids it just the
same. It's in the qal stem with an "incompleted" sense of
action. That means God is clearly making a statement! It
concludes: No adultery! And the verb demands continual action
... never quit avoiding adultery!
The Hebrew
word "naaph" has the general idea of "breaking wedlock!"
Nearly the only way
it's translated in the King James Bible is "adultery, adulterer
or adulteress or adulterous."
Only once, in
Ezekiel 16:38, does God say: "And I will
judge thee, as women that break wedlock are
judged." I've underlined the words that here translate "naaph."
The first word
of the Hebrew verse is "lo," meaning "no" or "not." The term has
the sense of absolute prohibition!
Surprisingly,
the Book of Proverbs only uses our word twice!
And Exodus
only once as well as Deuteronomy!
But Jeremiah
preaches about it 8 times! Ezekiel another 6 times! And little
short Hosea, whose life was pierced by adultery, incorporates
the word 5 times!
"Adultery" is
a sin preached against by the Prophets of God!
Where are the
Prophets today?
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 14, THOU
SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY:
God's idea of
marriage excludes any unfaithfulness on the part of
husband or wife.
Clearly under
the leadership of the Lord, Moses wrote:
"Thou shalt not commit adultery." Exodus 20:14
I yesterday
read that in the United Kingdom 78% of British men admit to
having committed adultery! I know that sounds unbelievable, but
the statistics have what appear to be solid documentation.
Some now would
tell us that God's seventh Commandment here is outdated and no
longer relevant.
The Bible says
otherwise. Adultery is too dangerous to be trivialized.
"But whoso committeth adultery with a
woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it
destroyeth his own soul.
A wound and dishonour
shall he get; and his
reproach shall not be wiped away." Proverbs
6:32-33
Stay away from
this sin!
Notice also
where God places this Commandment.
It's between
"Thou shalt not kill" and
"Thou shalt not steal!"
Know why?
To commit
adultery in Bible days was a capital offense and often led to
death! And many other times the adulterer was simply murdered by
an enraged family member!
Furthermore,
to commit adultery with a man or woman is to steal his or her
mates' wife or husband!
Thus the
seventh commandment (no adultery) has negative "linkage" with
the sixth (no killing) and eighth (no stealing) ones too!
Then Jesus,
when He came to earth, intensified the meaning of this verse.
Our Lord said
that adultery did not consist merely in the outward act itself
... but in the lustful thoughts and desires that preceded that
very act! "But I say unto you, That
whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart." Matthew 5:28
But I really
believe that the utmost reason God so hates adultery and the
divorce adultery usually brings is this: the husband-wife
relationship is a picture or type or symbol of the Christ-Church
relationship! Paul writes: "Wives, submit
yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the
husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of
the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the
church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be
to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious
church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that
it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love
their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth
and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church."
Ephesians 5:22-29
To violate
such a trust ... is to cast mud on the greatest union in the
universe!
To the
Christian, life is "Christ in us" and reciprocally "We in
Christ!"
As Jesus twice
said, "What therefore God hath joined
together, let not man put asunder." Matthew 19:6 and Mark
10:9
This is
important.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 15, THE
EIGHTH COMMANDMENT:
You can read
it for yourself. It's found in Exodus 20:15.
"Thou shalt not steal" commands the
Lord God of Israel!
The qal
imperfect Hebrew verb is spelled "ganab" and means "to carry
away" or "to bring away" or just "to steal" something.
It is used 39
times in the Word of God.
It is found in
Genesis 31:19 where we are told:
"Rachel had stolen the images that were her
father's."
It is possible
to "steal" a man too! Kidnapping! "And he
that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his
hand, he shall surely be put to death." Exodus 21:16
One can steal
things other than material! "And on this
manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for
judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel."
2nd Samuel 15:6
In 2nd Samuel
19:3 "ganab" is translated "stealth" in the King James Bible.
Eventually
Israel so neglected this commandment that Jeremiah accused them:
"Ye steal, murder, and commit adultery,
and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after
other gods whom ye know not." Jeremiah 7:10
And if a
Preacher does not proclaim the whole counsel of God to the
people, all the written Word, he is guilty of theft too!
"Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the
LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour."
Jeremiah 23:30
Here then we
have a widely ranging prohibition.
In a real way
stealing is an affront to God.
Is He, the
Lord of all the ages, not able to provide for His people?
What could we
possibly need that the Lord has not supplied?
Critically the
Jews once asked: "Can God furnish a table
in the wilderness?" Psalm 78:19
Well, Jehovah
God did feed a few million Jews "in the wilderness" for forty
years!
Jesus would
not even make for Himself a loaf of bread ... turning a stone
into a meal ... fearing He would step ahead of His Father's
provision! "And the devil said unto him,
If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made
bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."
Matthew 4:3-4
Child of God,
we need nothing He does not supply!
Paul, to the
growing Believer, promises: "But my God
shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by
Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19
What else
could we need?
Why would we
ever want to "take" anything?
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 16, THOU
SHALT NOT STEAL:
Yes, the Bible
does command us: "Thou shalt not steal."
This prohibition is simply known as the eighth commandment. It's
recorded in Exodus 20:15.
But I am not
about to write an article here today on ... say ... "robbing a
bank!" I just don't think any burglars are studying these pages
right now.
Yet
this modern world in which we live has come to the place where
it ignores even this eighth commandment! Of course ... it has
rejected the first seven, why not the eighth also?
And in keeping
with the lukewarmness of this Laodicean age ... churches too
have absorbed the world's thinking!
For example
... to talk about someone, gossiping and slandering them
recklessly, is to steal their good name and reputation!
To "loaf" on
the job, maybe getting a little "nap" while on the clock, is to
steal from the company that hired you to work eight full
hours!
To be immoral
with a person of the opposite sex, seducing and alluring them
into the sin of adultery or fornication is stealing their
purity ... or maybe stealing their vows of faithfulness
to their marriage partner!
To hire
workers at your company and pay them poverty wages, knowing they
have families to support, is stealing from their ability
to be responsible providers!
Not tithing
one's income, giving 10% back to the dear Lord, is stealing
from God! Malachi calls it "robbery!"
Hope this
one's not too plan, but Paul said it first. To withhold sex from
your husband or wife ... just because you're "punishing" or
"teaching" him a lesson, is stealing from his
expectations as your Mate. The Apostle called it "defrauding"
one's husband or wife.
To not teach
one's children the Word of God, neglecting their spiritual
growth incessantly, is to certainly steal from their
godly heritage!
And just in
case any of us should think that "stealing" is not an
appropriate topic for Believers in Christ, read Paul again. He,
writing to the spiritual Ephesians nonetheless says:
"Let him that stole steal no more: but
rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing
which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth."
Ephesians 4:28
I suspect that
if each of us took a few more minutes and thought about it,
other common examples of dishonesty, of plain old theft, would
come to mind!
God, keep us
honest!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 17, THE NINTH COMMANDMENT:
The Text just
says: "Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbour." Exodus 20:16
God is
interested in truth!
The Hebrew
verse here is a little more involved than the previous three
have been.
It begins with
the negative particle "lo." It means no! Or not!
Again I remind you that by putting this word first in the Hebrew
sentence the Holy Spirit is clearly giving it prominence. Here
is something we can not do!
To "bear"
false witness means to "answer, respond or testify." It is
spelled "anah." It is not here expressed as an imperative, just
a declarative statement of fact.
The adjective
"false" or "sheqer" in Hebrew means "lying" or "deceptive" in
nature.
"Witness,"
which is expressed as "ed" in Hebrew, is used 69 times in the
Bible, each occasion being translated just as we have it here,
witness! It usually deals with evidence or testimony in a legal
sense.
The
preposition "against" can also mean "among, in, at, with or
towards."
The noun
"neighbor" is spelled "rea" in Hebrew and carries the idea of
friend or companion or even brother or husband or lover. It is
translated in all of these different ways in the Old Testament.
Putting it all
together, it still means the same thing!
God forbids
lying!
Society can
only function when truth is the standard by which we live!
And America,
for that matter much of the world today, is running short of
that valuable commodity ... truth!
In our
Universities and Colleges many so-called professors are now
saying that truth is unidentifiable, maybe even non-existent!
If so, you can
throw this eighth commandment out the window. It has no
relevance!
But ... if you
believe there is an absolute called
truth, live by it daily!
Remember,
Jesus said He is The Truth! See John 14:6!
He further
said that God's Word is The Truth! See John 17:17.
And He also
promised that if something was not so ... He would tell us!
That's good
enough for me!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 18, THOU
SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS:
The Bible
demands of us Christians truthfulness.
In fact,
Scripture ... and the God Who wrote It ... expects truth to be a
way of life worldwide!
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbor" says Moses in Exodus 20:16.
It's accurate
to say this was first written to Israel, God's chosen people.
But later Paul says the Law was given to sinners as well. See
1st Timothy 1:8-9.
Do not lie!
Tell the
truth!
These two
categories, truth and untruth, engulf every area of existence!
The goal of
the Christian life, or at least one of its main goals, is to be
able to discern between truth and error.
John
reiterates this by declaring: "We are of
God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God
heareth not us. Hereby
know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."
1st John 4:6
Look at this.
Satan is a
liar! Jesus says the devil is ... "a liar,
and the father of it." John 8:44
Jesus is the
Truth! Again He Himself preaches: "I am
the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
John 14:6
As a teenager
two verses of Scripture, verses concerning God's veracity,
impacted my life. I committed them to memory and they have
always been with me.
Hebrews 6:18
says that it is impossible for God to lie!
And Titus 1:2
announces plainly that God cannot lie!
No wonder He
commanded us NOT to bear false witness!
While John is
best known for his use of the "truth" concept in Scripture,
using the word 47 times ... Paul in His Epistles uses it 51
times!
"Truth" ...
it's essential!
And praise the
Lord, we Believers know where Truth is embodied!
Jesus taught
us.
During prayer
one day He asked His Father, "Sanctify
them through thy truth: thy word is truth." John 17:17
There we have
it!
God's
Word is truth!
God's holy
inspired inerrant Word!
It will never
lead anyone astray!
Now I will
just say "Amen!"
By the way,
"amen" means truth!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 19, THE TENTH
COMMANDMENT:
The
commandment on not coveting seems to be linked to the
prohibition on stealing!
If one has no
desire for an item ... he is much less likely to steal that
thing.
"Thou shalt not covet " covers a
lot of territory! Exodus 20:17
Following the
pattern of the previous few commandments, those in close
proximity, our verse begins with "lo," the Hebrew negative
particle.
God is saying
for us to adopt a big NO in our lives when it comes to desiring
things that are not rightfully ours.
But Scripture
goes even further. It lists the major categories the Lord has in
mind. "Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife,
nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his
ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."
Again, this is Exodus 20:17.
The noun for
"neighbor" is "rea" and means not only the person who lives next
door, but also one's friend, companion, brother, husband, lover
or fellow human being! This exempts no one!
The expression
"any thing" ... do not covet any thing that is thy
neighbor's ... translates "kol," a word that means "all, the
whole, or the totality" of that neighbor's possessions!
Now to the our
passage's double verb, "covet," which in Hebrew is "chamad" and
means "to take pleasure in, to have delight in" hence, "to
desire strongly!" Once in the King James Bible it's translated
"lust."
Moses uses the
same verb in the parallel reading of the Ten Commandments,
Deuteronomy 5:21. But there it's rendered "desire." Notice:
"Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt
thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant,
or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that
is thy neighbour's."
But watch
this. The verb "covet" in the Deuteronomy text is different!
There it's the word "avah" and means "to crave" or "to wish or
sigh" and can even mean "to be greedy" for something! This
particular word also seems to emphasize bodily appetites,
sensual things!
It's pretty
clear! God wants us to be satisfied with His provision
in our lives! Then we, with Paul the Apostle, might be able to
say: "I have learned, in whatsoever state
I am, therewith to be content." Philippians 4:11
The individual
that has reached that level of spiritual growth no doubt also
realizes something else Paul preached. "My
God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory
by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19
Paul, having
been in a Roman prison for some time, can still sincerely say:
"But I have all, and abound: I am full."
Also he said: "Not because I desire a
gift."
Again,
"Not that I speak in respect of want,"
writes Paul!
This godly man
will covet nothing!
He has found
Christ Jesus sufficient for all of life!
Indeed, Christ
IS Paul's life!
See!
"When
Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."
Colossians 3:4
And
"For to me to live is Christ."
Philippians 1:21
As with every
other commandment of Scripture; a full comprehension of Jesus as
God's very Son and the Saviour of our souls, loving Him and
worshipping Him as we should ... will bring one into harmony
with all God's ways!
If Jesus is
truly supreme in our lives, coveting would be an attitude of the
past! "Things" would have lost their allurement!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 20, THOU
SHALT NOT COVET:
When God the
Holy Spirit really "convicts" old sinners of their lost-ness,
showing him and her the filth of their hearts, he most often
uses Scripture to do so!
Especially the
Law of God!
It's the "Law"
that shows us how far short we really fall, short of God's Glory
and God's standard of Righteousness!
According to
Paul in his great Epistle to the Romans, it's the Law that
declares "There is none righteous, no not
one." Romans 3:10
Furthermore,
the Law concludes: "For all have sinned."
Romans 3:23
But the tenth
commandment, particularly so, is in many ways the strongest of
all! "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his
manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor
any thing that is thy neighbour's." Exodus 20:17
A man might
argue that he has no other gods in his life. Or that he takes
the name of no one in vain. Or that he does no steal or lie or
disobey his parents.
But few alive
today would contest the fact that he or she has wrongly "desired"
certain things from time to time! If nothing but another serving
of desert, banana pudding especially! Or better clothes! Or a
different home! Or maybe a new car!
This
last commandment, as much as any of them, goes to one's very heart!
Maybe even more than the other nine!
As Moses
miraculously received the Law, doing so under God's very guidance, to
"steal" something would have required an overt act.
You'd have to take something from a person! And to "bear
false witness" you would have to go to court
and open your mouth and lie! To
dishonor the Sabbath a man had to go outside and
do some kind of unlawful
work! And to commit adultery, as the Jews understood it,
required physical activity for sure.
My point being
that the tenth commandment ... "do not covet" ... can be
violated without one ever going anywhere, without using a hammer
or chisel, without "taking" a person's belongings, without a
single overt act!
To "covet"
just involves one's thoughts!
His or her
desires!
This sin can
be committed and not one person has to know
about it!
And, as James
says, if a person's breaking ONE of the commandments is
tantamount to breaking them ALL, equivalent to violating the
whole Law ... we're all in trouble! "For
whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one
point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10
Everybody has
at least "wanted" something they should not have desired! At
least had the "thought!" That's coveting!
Now I am not
saying you didn't get that thought under control, nearly
immediately! But it was there running rampantly for a while!
Yes, coveting!
"Heart"
thoughts!
Longings!
Cravings!
What an
invasion of privacy!
Yet ... what
sin!
Let me give
you two quick examples!
The "rich
young ruler" came to Jesus. "And when he
was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled
to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may
inherit eternal life?" Mark 10:17
Jesus repeated
to him the Law of God: "Thou knowest the
commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal,
Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and
mother." Notice here that Jesus listed all the "second
tablet" of the Ten Commandments but one!
Jesus did not
quote the one about coveting, not yet anyway!
But when the
young sinner man said, "Master, all these
have I observed from my youth," Jesus responded with an
exposition of the Tenth Commandment, the one about coveting or
overly desiring things! "Then Jesus
beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou
lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up
the cross, and follow me." This means ... do not covet!
"Things," mere "possessions," meant more to the man than Jesus!
For we are lastly told ... "And he was sad
at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great
possessions."
What
covetousness!
It was the
tenth commandment that "got" him!
That brought
him to the very "door" of salvation!
A salvation he
rejected!
This tenth Law
is awesome!
Then again,
Paul, when writing about the role the Law plays in our
"conviction," relates: "What shall we say
then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law
had said, Thou shalt not covet."
Notice which
"example" Paul used from his life!
Paul did not
plead guilty to having some idol when he was young!
Or to
violating the Sabbath!
Or to theft or
adultery!
No!
He was an
exceedingly moral man!
BUT he had
desired things, too strongly!
He might have
never been convicted of sin apart from commandment number ten! Say it
again Paul: "I had not known sin,
but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had
said, Thou shalt not covet."
Thank God for
those words: "Thou shalt not covet!"
They may well
have been used of the Holy Spirit to give the Church her
greatest preacher ever ... outside of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Christian
friend, today let that last commandment "work" on you!
Do we ever
"covet?"
Are all our
hearts' desires right with God?
Each of us
probably right now should slip to our knees and repent over some
little thing ... some small desire deep down inside!
Until we can
sincerely say to our dear Lord ... "Whom
have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon
earth that I desire beside thee. God is the
strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." Psalm
73:25-26
Amen!
He can
dissolve all those worldly desires!
They "melt" in
the Presence of His Glory and Grace!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 21,
CONCLUSION:
Charles
Darwin's theories have largely come to be know as the process of
"evolution."
The Latin verb
"volvere" means "to roll." With the added prefix "e" the meaning
expands like this: "to roll out" or just "to unfold."
Evolution is
said to be the process by which life on earth has expanded and
advanced as it has.
But Biblically
the very opposite is true.
Man did not
accidentally "happen" as the Darwinians believe, God
created him
... and her, Adam and Eve.
In fact I
suggest to you that after man and woman first sinned, in the
Garden of Eden, they did not "evolve" at all! They went
backward! Downward!
They
spiritually "devolved!"
And, yes,
that's a word. I checked to be sure!
"Devolve"
means "to roll" ... "downward!"
That's why
that first human sin is called the Fall of man!
In Romans
chapter one
Paul fully describes this spiritual "devolution" that occurs in
an unrepentant sinner's life!
And it's being
graphically illustrated by millions if not tens of
millions in America today!
Let me
describe such "devolution" in reference to humanity's attitude
and beliefs toward the Word of God, especially the Ten
Commandments. Particularly since we've been studying them for the
past few days.
At first
Israel listened to God's Commandments with reverential fear and
willing obedience! At least for the most part! This certainly
was the goal Moses had for his people, Joshua too!
Then glad
obedience somehow became just obedience!
Then resentful
obedience! I mean the attitude that says "I'll obey the Lord ...
but only because I have to do so!"
Then comes skepticism!
You know, "Are all those Laws really necessary? Isn't God being
a little narrow-minded here?"
Next,
disrespect ... mocking God's Word! A monogamous sex life? What a
joke! Nobody believes that anymore!
Then comes
disobedience, maybe a little shameful
and timid at first, but disobedience nonetheless.
Then one
drifts into more open disobedience! Unashamedly so!
Next rebellious
disobedience! Defiance!
Finally the
Commandments themselves ... and the God Who created them ... are
despised and hated. War with God!
We have by now
arrived at today's prevailing wicked philosophy, often called
postmodernism. It consists of outright denial of truth, any
truth, all truth! It says there is no such thing as absolute
truth! Here America lives today, at least academic and political
America. Truth is decided by the individual we are told!
Something can be right for Tom but not true for Ralph! It all
inthe eye of the beholder!
Such willful
ignorance can only lead to one state, that of chaos! Ultimate
confusion! The disintegration of society as we know it!
Paul, under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has taken the spirit of this
whole article today and condensed it into a few words, a very
few. "The wages of sin is death!"
Romans 6:23
Yes, those Ten
Commandments, short and brief as they are, contain the very
seeds for the survival of life on earth, at least civilized
life!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS! THEY SURELY ARE MORE
IMPORTANT THAN ANY OF US EVER THOUGHT! OTHERWISE, THE DEVIL
WOULD NOT BE FIGHTING THEM AS TENACIOUSLY AS HE IS!
|
