Pastor's Blog

Let us examine ourselves this morning in light of the tenth commandment, which is: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor (Ex. 20:17) To covet, means to have a strong desire for something that doesn’t belong to you. The tenth commandment illustrates what we have said before concerning all the commandments: they not only have to do with our deeds, that is, with our works or our behavior—what we do with the body; but also with our inward desires and affections—what we do with our hearts and minds. The gist of the commandment is that we not be envious or jealous of our neighbor’s good fortune, but guard ourselves against all improper affections for what belongs to him, and that we be content with what we have. How is it with you? Do you have a godly contentment? Or are you constantly looking at what other people have and finding yoursel...

Let’s examine ourselves this morning in light of the eighth commandment, which is, “You shall not steal” (Ex. 20:16). The commandment forbids us to appropriate for ourselves what rightfully belongs to someone else. While the commandment perhaps conjures up images of a masked gunman robbing someone at gunpoint, or a burglar dressed in black breaking and entering into someone’s home by night and making off with his treasures, we should understand that there are many, many other ways in which the commandment can be broken. None of us, I suppose, are too likely to break the commandment in either of these two ways. But what about in other ways? What about honesty in the work place? Do you pilfer items from your employer? We’re told that hundreds of millions of dollars are lost by companies each year because employees steal from their employers, and not just in the obvious way of embezzling funds; but in taking little things, in small amounts, for personal use: postage stamps and envelopes,...

Let us examine ourselves this morning in light of the seventh commandment, which is: “You shall not commit adultery.” Adultery is a violation of the covenant of marriage, either one’s own, or someone else’s, or both. It is one of several different kinds of sexual sin, and its prohibition in the Ten Commandments ought to be understood as a prohibition of every kind of sexual sin: not only adultery, but fornication (which is pre-marital sex), and homosexuality, and every other kind of intimate relation other than between a lawful husband and wife. But the commandment goes further than simply forbidding illicit sexual acts. It forbids everything that leads to or accompanies them. It forbids all immodesty in talk, dress, and behavior. It forbids flirting with anyone other than one’s spouse. It forbids forming emotional attachments with anyone other than one’s own spouse. It forbids fantasizing about being with someone other than one’s own spouse. It forbids lustful thoughts. And of cours...

Sunday, June 28, 2009 Let us examine ourselves this morning in light of the seventh commandment, which is: “You shall not commit adultery.” Adultery is a violation of the covenant of marriage, either one’s own, or someone else’s, or both. It is one of several different kinds of sexual sin, and its prohibition in the Ten Commandments ought to be understood as a prohibition of every kind of sexual sin: not only adultery, but fornication (which is pre-marital sex), and homosexuality, and every other kind of intimate relation other than between a lawful husband and wife. But the commandment goes further than simply forbidding illicit sexual acts. It forbids everything that leads to or accompanies them. It forbids all immodesty in talk, dress, and behavior. It forbids flirting with anyone other than one’s spouse. It forbids forming emotional attachments with anyone other than one’s own spouse. It forbids fantasizing about being with someone other than one’s own spouse. It forbids lustful ...

Sunday, June 21, 2009 Let us examine ourselves today in light of the sixth commandment. The sixth commandment is, “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13). It sounds simple enough, and we are all, I’m sure, quite satisfied that we have never violated it. But the Psalmist says that God’s commandments are “exceedingly broad” (Ps. 119:96). That is, they have a very wide application. Jesus shows us how wide in the Sermon on the Mount when he says, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the fire of hell” (Matt. 5:21-22). He shows us what we should have already known. The commandments not only deal with the behavior of the body but with the behavior of the heart as well. The sixth commandment not only deals with the act of ...

Sunday, June 7, 2009 Let us examine ourselves this morning in light of what God commands us in the Fourth Commandment: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy (Ex. 20:8-11, NASB). God requires us to set aside the Lord’s Day. This is what it means to keep the day holy. The basic meaning of the word “holy” is “set apart.” The Sabbath—or in the Christian era, the Lord’s Day—is to be set apart from all other days. It is to be treated differently than other days. How so? By what we do on the day. There are two things, specifically, that are required of us. The...

Sunday, May 31, 2009 Let us examine ourselves this morning in light of the Third Commandment: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain (Exodus 20:7). The commandment has to do with using the Lord’s name in an oath or vow; not that doing so is sinful in itself. There are occasions when swearing an oath or taking a vow in the name of the Lord is appropriate and necessary (marriage vows, oath of office, giving testimony in a court of law, etc.). What the commandment forbids is using his name in this way in vain—meaning using his name to deceive, that is, using his name when swearing an oath or taking a vow in order to give credibility to your statements, when in fact you have no intention of following through. The breaking of any vow is a very serious matter. All the more so when the vow was made in the name of God. But the implications of the commandment are very far reaching and extend far beyond swea...

Sunday, May 24, 2009 Let us examine ourselves this morning in light of the Second Commandment: You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments (Ex. 20:4-6) The reason we are given this commandment is because the greatness and glory of God cannot be properly expressed by an image. An image necessarily distorts our understanding of God; it limits him; it debases him. It is not likely, I suppose, that any of us are guilty of breaking this commandment by actually bowing down before a block of wood or stone carved into a physical representation of God. But then again, this isn’t the only way the commandment is capab...

Sunday, May 17, 2009 Let us examine ourselves this morning in light of the first commandment: I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:2-3). We shouldn’t think that the only way in which it is possible to violate this commandment is by formally confessing allegiance to some other god, like Baal or Thor, or Vishnu or Allah. It is not only those things that are actually called gods or thought of as gods that can take the place of the Lord our God in our thinking. Whatever is loved, feared, trusted in, or obeyed more than God, has in effect become a god to us. Whatever has the first place in our affections has the place that only the Lord our God should have. Whatever we most fear, if not God, has an influence over us that only God should have. Likewise with regard to what we most trust—that person or thing in which we have the most confidence—if not ...