Who Needs the 10 Commandments? (Exodus 20 - Intro)
Billy Milton - November 6, 2005
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Today we are beginning a new series called ‘10’ where over the next few months we will be examining the 10 commandments to see if they are really relevant for us today. Earlier on this year Channel 4, in its infinite wisdom, decreed that the 10 Commandments were out of date. They decided to conduct a nationwide survey to create a new set of commandments for the 21st century. This time in true Pharisaical fashion, they decided to double them up to 20 commandments! How did old Moses get on? Are his commandments still set in stone? Well at least 4 remained exactly as the original (don’t lie; don’t kill; respect your mother and father; don’t commit adultery) and a couple of the others were just reworking of the old ones – “live within your means” and “be content with what you have” are basically – “Thou shalt not covet”. But the number one new commandment was what? GET A FEW GUESSES. It was, “Treat others as you would have them treat you” which sounds suspiciously like what Jesus said in Matt 7:12. So there wasn’t a wholesale junking of the 10 Cs or Biblical morals as Channel 4 were suggesting might happen.
But don’t the 10 c’s represent all that is bad about Christianity? All these ‘thou shalt nots’ and the ‘thou shalts’. Hasn’t our society moved on into an altogether more tolerant society? A less judgmental society? Why in our postmodern society do we still need ancient decrees like the 10 commandments? Well, quite simply, maybe because we are becoming tired of all the moral ambiguity that we see around us. This ditching of the 10 c’s in favour of a personal ethic which says that there is no absolute right or wrong - it all depends on the situation – is leading to one result …..absolute chaos. For instance, our government, instead of warning about the dangers of under age sex, is very keen to get over the message that when you have sex, take precautions – and, lo and behold, we have the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe. The government also wants to have 24 hour drinking to try and curb this terrible epidemic of binge drinking. I am dumfounded at this one – anyone with half a brain can predict that this will only lead to those with drink problems getting even more drink problems. What happened to self-control? Crazy! But enough of my ranting
Many years ago I went on a field trip with my school in the Scottish Highlands. We were all allocated small groups to walk in and well warned before hand to stay together and not to lose sight of the other groups around us. Well, unusually for Scotland , a mist fell and pretty soon it was drizzling and cold. Most of us made our way quickly to the rendezvous point but one team got lost. As the mist fell they lost sight of the other teams and there were no landmarks visible because of the thick mist, so their maps were useless. What they did do was make their way down to a stream and using their logic decided to follow it downstream where they reckoned it must eventually reach a lake or some other sign of civilization. It did, but not before they had walked about 5 miles in the wrong direction! We were all re-united safely and probably learned a bigger lesson from the lost people than anything else we learned that day.
We are fast becoming a culture which is lost in unfamiliar territory without a map and with a mist descending around us. What we need are some landmarks, some fixed points of reference to figure out where we are and where we are going. That is where I believe the Ten Commandments come in. So,
Q1. “What are we to do with Ten Commandments?”
A1. We are to use them as a Mirror.
Here’s an interesting fact. 99.9% of us look in a mirror, not to see how gorgeous we are, but to look at our faults! Skin, hair, baggy eyes etc. etc. The Law is God’s mirror. It was given so that when the people of Israel looked at it they saw their faults. Even Abraham, who was a fantastic keeper of God’s rules, didn’t earn God’s favour by that method. No, Rom 4:3 says that, “..because of Abraham’s faith God accepted him.” God in his love gave Israel the 10 Cs to let them have a measuring stick that would reveal their sinfulness and show them how far they had fallen below his standards. Paul tells us in Romans 3:19 & 20 that, 19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses and to bring the entire world into judgment before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right in God’s sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God’s law, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying it.
Paul says that the law does not make any one right in God’s sight, but that rather, “the more we know God’s law, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying it.” He is not saying that the law makes us sinners, but that the law reveals our sin. The mirror never makes the spot on your face. The mirror only reveals to you that there is a spot. In other words you can try as you might to keep the Law but you are bound to fail. That’s why they were given!! – to help us to see our sin and so turn to God for forgiveness. They were given to drive us to God.
A2. We are to use them as a compass to give us direction.
God has given his law to let man know what is right and what is wrong. Stealing is wrong because God says it is wrong. Lying is wrong because God says it is wrong. And adultery is wrong because God says it is wrong. God did not lean out of Heaven one day and say, “I think that these people are far to happy, I think I will give them the Commandments to make their lives miserable.” In reality, God saw that men and women were continually ruining their lives, enslaving themselves to sin and its consequences. He therefore summarised ten life-directing principles to bring order and harmony to life. He gave us these commandments because he loves us and to point us back to him.
A3. We are to use them as a Guide to lead us to Christ.
We are to allow the Ten Commandment to act as a guardian to bring us to Christ. Galatians 3:24 says, “The law was our guardian and teacher to lead us until Christ came.” The words ‘guardian and teacher’ are one word in Greek - paidagøgos, and does not mean a school teacher such as we are used to, but more like a protector. Back in the days of the apostle Paul paidagøgos meant a servant or a slave who was part of a Roman household. In the homes of the rich in the Romans Empire, were slaves who cared for the children. When a child was born into such a home, he was put in the custody of a servant or slave who actually raised him. When the little one grew to a certain age and was at school, this servant was the one who took the little one by the hand, led him to school and turned him over to the school teacher.”
The Ten Commandments won’t take you to heaven but they will point you in the right direction and hopefully keep you safe until your ready to think for yourself. When you finally come to the place that you see your hopeless and helpless condition as a sinner, the law does not save you but, it is the one who takes you by the hand and brings you to Christ.
Application
In closing this morning I want you to see that the Ten Commandments keeps us from two very real dangers.
1. They keep us from social snobbery. You know the type of thing… “I’m not as bad as so-and-so.” or “I’d never behave like that.” Or alternatively, “Everyone else is doing it, it must be ok!” The Ten Commandments clear the fog. They remind us that regardless of what every one else is doing, no matter where our society draws the lines, some things are wrong. The standard of behavior is not determined by what our friends think but by what God thinks.
2. They keep us from intellectual snobbery.
They’re not something that we must only accept intellectually. If it were enough to intellectually value them then intelligent people would presumably also be the most holy. That isn’t the case, I’m afraid. The objective of the Ten Commandments is not to educate us; it’s to change our hearts and our behavior.
Perhaps this morning you are aware of a void in your life? You’ve been living a selfish life without any real consideration of God or others? Maybe its time to take a good look in the mirror of God’s word and face up to the fact that you are spoiled by sin? Maybe you need to admit that you’re lost in this world and that its time to find your way back to God? Maybe you need to turn to the best guide of all – Jesus himself – and find your way home?
So, when we ask the question, “Who needs the Ten Commandments?” the resounding answer is ….we do!