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SERMON: Chris McKenzie, First Baptist Church of Elizabethtown, IL
8 Plays9 months ago
“The Ten Commandments Pt.3”
Exodus 20:12-13
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Faith 168 Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Thank you for tuning in to the Faith 168 podcast. You are about to listen to a sermon given by Chris McKenzie, co-host of the Faith 168 podcast and pastor of First Baptist Church of Elizabethtown, Illinois.
The Commandments: Honor and No Murder
00:00:15
Speaker
All right, so as we open up to Exodus chapter 20, verse 12 through 13, here are the two parts of the Ten Commandments we are focusing on today.
00:00:27
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in the back of your bulletins there will be a place for you to fill this in but the first one honor your father and your mother listen up youngins and then the second one is you shall not murder now when we look at these two commandments they seem
00:00:56
Speaker
Pretty simple, right? Listen to mom and dad and don't kill people. That's a pretty good outline of what we should follow. But the spiritual implications of these two parts to the Ten Commandments run deeper than the simple dos and don'ts.
00:01:20
Speaker
There's a lot of rules in our society that when we look at it, it sounds like a pretty good rule, but how often do we circumnavigate these things or try and keep them in their simplicity? And just like when we look at this, we've talked about this before when we were talking about a defiled heart not too long
God's Commandments vs. Human Traditions
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ago.
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About the traditions of men where they would wash their hands Several times and Jesus said hey y'all are being hypocrites because you're focusing on this tradition But you're ignoring the commandment of God honor your father and your mother By allowing young men to take what they called the vow of Corbin where they could say everything I have is dedicated to God Therefore I don't have to take care of mom and dad when they get older
00:02:12
Speaker
And so, we do things like that. We look at these commandments, and we say, honor your father and your mother, and we think, okay, well, call mom and dad every once in a while. Or listen to them when it's more favorable for you. Or we look at the, you shall not murder, and we really work our way around this one, because that seems really easy when we think about it, right? Don't kill anyone.
00:02:42
Speaker
But the spiritual implications went so much deeper, because murder is not just a physical act, but also a spiritual act. And that's what we're going to see as we read through this today. But the first command we're going to read is about honoring our father and mother. But here's what the scripture says, and let's just read that together, verse 12 through 13 of Exodus chapter 20.
00:03:12
Speaker
Where it's written honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you You shall not murder And so that first command honor your father and mother We See has a lot deeper implications in our lives today than just
00:03:39
Speaker
saying I honor mom and dad and I'm going to take care of them. I'm going to be there for them. So how do we honor our parents? And there's three things that we see here and there's so much more than these three things but
00:03:59
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But let's sum it up into these three different ways.
Honoring Parents: Lessons and Legacy
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Speaker
How do we honor our parents? And the first way we can honor our parents is to be teachable. And I want you to know, maybe mom and dad is not around anymore, but there are still ways to honor our parents, even if they are not with us today. You can still be teachable.
00:04:25
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by looking at the things that your parents instilled within you the good godly things and say you know what to live my life for my heavenly father would bring honor to my mother and father who have passed and to be teachable means to listen sometimes
00:04:53
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Because guess what? Mom and dad, when they say things, a lot of times they're speaking from experience. You know, there's going to be a day, little Theo and little Maisie are going to be running around and, I mean, we've already reached this day. I fell down and ate a bunch of concrete in my life and I was yelling at Theo last night as he was running. And let me tell you,
00:05:19
Speaker
Don't know if there's anyone in this place that can actually catch him once he starts going you have to trick him now And he took off running and I was shouting stop stop stop stop because I knew I just knew he was gonna eat it And that's what he did. He fell Luckily, he missed the concrete. He flew over it actually and went into the grass and
00:05:45
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And the reason I was worried about him is because I have experienced falls before. I have experienced walking out and not paying attention and then tripping over and falling.
00:06:01
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been hurt by that and I know that I don't want my son to feel that same physical pain and so I worry about him so I've been there and have done that and as he grows he's going to face different situations things that are emotionally harmful things that are spiritually harmful things that I have been through and I can say young man or to my daughter young woman don't do that let me tell you how this turned out
00:06:32
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And if your mother and father aren't here to give you that advice anymore, let me tell you, your Heavenly Father has given you a Bible full of people that have messed up, that have been there, that have done that, that even have the T-shirt, and they would tell you, look at where I went wrong and don't do that. We can honor our parents by being teachable.
00:07:02
Speaker
Proverbs 1 8 through 9 my son hear the instruction of Your father and do not forsake the law of your mother And that's a beautiful scripture because it's showing you that it's not just the father's rule as a parent But the mother and the father come together and work as a unit to teach their children For they will be a graceful ornament
00:07:32
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on your head and chains about your neck. How can we honor our
Obedience: A Path to Honor Parents?
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parents? The second way is be obedient. We don't have to understand everything and we don't have to learn everything automatically, but we should look at the rules that are set in place and say, you know what? These rules, just like the Ten Commandments, are for our safety.
00:08:02
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Therefore, we should be obedient. We've got a rule in our house. Don't go near the outlets. Kids don't like listening to me on that one. And so we have to put up all those different things right there. And we put up those things to keep them away from the outlets, because for some reason, kids love things that they're not allowed to touch. But we put those up not to ruin their fun, but to keep them safe.
00:08:32
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And I'm really, I got on Amazon last night and started looking up leashes for conference. And that's another thing that we might need for Theo's safety. Maisie, she's pretty good at walking right beside us and then kind of listening, but we might have to get a lease for Theo. And it's not too bad, I had one too when I was a kid. But be obedient.
00:08:56
Speaker
Ephesians 6, 1 through 3, children obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. Paul also writes in Colossians 3, 20, children obey your parents and all things for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
00:09:26
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And you see that that was the first commandment, Paul writes, that had a promise. The rules are for your safety so that you can continue on living.
Respecting Parental Correction: Insights and Stories
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Another way we can honor our parents is be respectful. This is a tough one, right? We live in a world where
00:09:53
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where that definition is starting to be changed a little bit, I believe. But be respectful. It kind of goes along with this understanding of being teachable and being obedient. But be respectful when parents put their foot down and correct you. Be respectful of
00:10:22
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their correction and their desire to see you carry on and live a peaceful life and live a productive life because their correction can be beneficial for you. In Leviticus 19.3, it says, every one of you shall revere his mother and his father.
00:10:50
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That means look at them with respect and keep my shadows. I am the Lord your God. And again, think of those of you, if your parents aren't with you today, think of those times that they corrected you. It wasn't always fun, wasn't it?
00:11:15
Speaker
And you know, sometimes we don't even have the parents that are going to correct us in godly ways, but we have parental figures in our life that have invested in us, that have corrected us in godly ways. We've had youth pastors and pastors and deacons and Sunday school teachers and people of the community that have invested in us. And I remember my grandfather, he corrected me many times.
00:11:44
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Concerning spiritual matters, and it wasn't always really harsh But it would hurt because I would realize that I had stepped out of line and in that moment I had a chance to say you know what gramps. I don't care what you have to say. I'll do it my way And I found that when I would do that when I would ignore his correction rather than respecting it I
00:12:13
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And it always turned out worse for me. But when I said, hey, Gramps, you know what? Let me be teachable. Let me be obedient. And I'm going to respect you right now. I learned some valuable lessons that kept me out of trouble in many areas of my life. How can we honor our parents? Be respectful.
00:12:42
Speaker
especially when they correct us. And remember this, we have a heavenly Father that we need to respect as well in all of these different areas. And he corrects us sometimes. Remember what we read in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 9 through 11 where it says, furthermore, we didn't have human fathers who corrected us and we paid them respect.
00:13:05
Speaker
shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits and live for they indeed for a few days chastened us as seen best to them but he or our prophet that we may be partakers of his holiness now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present but painful nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it
00:13:36
Speaker
And so our parents, as wonderful as they are, did not understand everything. And there were times that our parents were probably wrong. There were going to be times that I get on to my children and do it the wrong way. You didn't have to do that to me, Breon. He was waiting.
00:14:05
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Yeah But God Never gets it wrong and when God corrects us it's not only as he sees spit and
00:14:22
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But he knows what is best for us, and who is worthy of more respect than all but God, because when he corrects us, it leads to the peaceable fruits of righteousness. It means we have gotten out of line, and it's not that he doesn't love us anymore, but he loves us so much that he doesn't want to see us suffer. And so he says, child, it's time to get back in line.
00:14:51
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There is danger ahead.
How Parents Can Encourage Honor
00:14:56
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Furthermore, as we've talked about honoring our fathers and mothers, talks about taking care of our parents as they get older. That was the Old Testament understanding at this point. Honor your father and mother. Make sure that they are cared for because they cared for you when you were helpless and the idea was that we were supposed to care for them when they were helpless as they got older.
00:15:23
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But there's also a message for parents here. Yes, kids honor your father and your mother, but parents make it an easy task for them to do so.
00:15:42
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Isaiah 54 13 all your children shall be taught by the Lord and Great shall be the peace of your children if you're going to leave your children Don't leave them in your ways because your ways are fallible and fall short Leave them in the ways of God
00:16:01
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And remember what Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 4. And you fathers do not promote your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord. It's very easy to disagree with children. Man, I like to do it sometimes. Sometimes I'll be riding down the road with the youth and they say things a little differently than we do. And I'd be like, man, you know, I can just kind of pick on them right now.
00:16:29
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Teach them a lesson the good, hard way. Yeah. But what will they learn if all I do is push against them rather than connect with them? What will I do is every time amazing messes up, all I do is scream, scream, scream, and never teach.
00:16:58
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Don't get me wrong, there are times to raise your voice. There are times to put your foot down. But sometimes there are times that you get down on their level and you look them in the eye and say, I need you to listen to me here is an important lesson. I want this for your good. I'm not going to just shout at you. I'm not just going to make you mad. I want you to hear this from the bottom of my heart.
00:17:29
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And Paul reiterates this in Colossians chapter 3, 21, fathers do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Our next point is this, the unity that a family has while living in the will of God will not break easily when the world pushes against them.
00:17:56
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That's what the family means and that's what this world, that's what the enemy, that's what the devil wants to break apart. And he's done a pretty good job in this world about breaking the family unit apart, about telling men that they need to be tough as nails and never connect with children. About separating husbands and wives and making them feel like they're not allowed to parent together.
00:18:27
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But when a family unit comes together, when a child can easily look at their mother and father, honoring and praising the Lord and raising them, training them, bringing them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord, it not only makes it easier for the parents to raise the child, even though it's still never easy, but it makes it easier for the child to respect.
00:18:54
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Apparent that doesn't mean they're gonna be a hundred percent on board with you every time Let me tell you It was easy to listen to my grandfather Because he was never mean but he was stern sometimes And he was strong at the right times and he was compassionate at the right times and
00:19:25
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And because of that, I learned so much. And I knew that when I was wrong, I could still come to him and say, Gramps, I messed up. What do I do now? How do I get through this? And he might say, yeah, you messed up. But let's start thinking about this and praying about this together.
Understanding Anger: The Root of Murder?
00:19:54
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The next command is you shall not murder. Pretty easy one, right? We all follow this one pretty good, right? Raise your hand. If you don't raise your hand, I'm calling the cops. No. Physically, in this world, we may follow this to a T pretty well. But our next point is this murder starts in the heart.
00:20:27
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Jesus says in Matthew 5 21 through 22 you have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not murder and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment but I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment and whoever says to his brother laka shall be in danger of the council but whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hellfire
00:20:58
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And he's talking about two different things and that same thing, and we'll talk more about that in other terms, but adultery and murder to the commandments. People say, well, I do pretty good with that. If you hate your brother, you are angry with him without cause just to be angry. And let me tell you, the world is really good about this.
00:21:26
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The devil has been very instrumental in stirring up hatred towards people and we're going into a very strange political environment right now that there's going to be a decision made in a couple days and they're going to be people that are already separating the same because you support that person or You support that person. I hate you and I want nothing to do with you and they are encouraging that in the world And so the hate
00:21:58
Speaker
Your brother, and to cut yourself off from him, is to kill him spiritually in your life and separate yourself from him. And my friends, Jesus says, that's just as bad as really killing them. That's just as bad as taking their physical life away and you are in danger
00:22:28
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of the same judgment. And remember what he says about what proceeds from our hearts. In Matthew 15, 19, for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, deaths, false witness, blasphemies.
Love Over Hate: A Christian Mandate
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We are not commanded to hate.
00:22:54
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But here's our last point. We are commanded to love, and those two are contrary to each other. We cannot hate someone when we have the love of God in our heart. Oh man, there are some things I dislike. There are some things I disagree with.
00:23:18
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But at the end of the day, I can't look at someone even if I really want to try to do it because the Holy Spirit dwells inside of me. And even when someone pushes me down and pushes my buttons and does everything in the world to show me that they hate me because of the love of God, I can't hate them. I can hate some of the things they do
00:23:49
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I can disagree with them on a world level, on a political level, on so many different levels. But at the end of the day, I realized this. That God had everything in the world to hold against me and to condemn me and to forget me. But instead, he forgave me. And he loved me.
00:24:19
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Even though I wasn't worthy of His love and His grace.
The Greatest Commandments: Love God and Neighbor
00:24:24
Speaker
We, my friends, are commanded to love, and there's about to be a time here in a couple days where the world is going to say it's time to hate. It doesn't matter which way it goes, I promise you. Whichever way it goes, there's going to be a time where the world says it's time to hate each other.
00:24:49
Speaker
It's time to divide from each other. It's time to fight each other. But the church does not need to fall into these times. Instead, the church should stand up and say in the middle of chaos, in the middle of rivalry, in the middle of disagreement, we are still going to love our neighbor as ourself.
00:25:11
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As we are commanded in Mark 12, 28-31, one of the scribes came, and having heard the reasoning together, perceiving that he, Jesus, had answered them well, asked Jesus, which is the first commandment of all?
00:25:26
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jesus answered him the first of all the commandments is here o israel the lord our god the lord is one and you shall love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength this is the first commandment and that first commandment leads to the second one and the second like it is this you shall love your neighbor as yourself
00:25:54
Speaker
There is no other commandment greater than these. Matthew 5, 43 through 44, you have heard that it was said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.
00:26:27
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We as Christians must choose love over hate and condemnation because that is exactly what Jesus Christ gave to us. In Romans 5.6-8 we end with this. For when we were still without strength, we were weak, hopeless, broken human beings.
00:26:57
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And due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Choosing Love Amidst Division
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There are a lot of Christians in this world that have been good at saying, I will not murder, but have killed many people around them that still yet live and breathe here in this world. The enemy wants it that way. My friends today, honor your father and your mother. Be teachable.
00:27:58
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Be obedient, be respectful, and choose love over hate. And if you want to take it real seriously too, please don't be the reason our church ends up on the news either. But my friends, this is what the world needs. And if there's a fight to be had, fight with love.
00:28:27
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as you see in scripture fight with love because when you get mad at me and you hate me and you try and put me down and all I can do is love you and be nice to you scripture says as Paul writes it's like pouring hot coals on their head and it really changes someone's perspective and if you're not a Christian today oh boy you're in for it the world's about to take you for a ride
00:28:59
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Put the world behind you. Turn away from it. Put your faith in Jesus. Experience love. True, unconditional, godly love for the first time. And if you want to make a change in this world, it's not through some big political statement, but it's through preaching the love and the grace of God. Because I promise you this, after this election,
00:29:29
Speaker
People will make laws. People will do what they always have done and try and make new regulations. And in four years, we'll go through it again. And four years after that, we'll go through it again and again and again and again, or we won't, whatever. New laws don't change lives. That's Jesus's job.
Embracing God's Love, Rejecting Worldly Influences
00:30:00
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Reach Jesus, and if you haven't put your faith in Jesus, put your faith in him today. My friends, pray the word. Now, what will you do with him? I encourage you this week, no matter what the outcome is of this election, to love people the way Jesus has loved you.
00:30:30
Speaker
And my friends, you'll find that there's a more peaceful world when you do that. Let's pray. Thank you for listening to the Faith 168 podcast. We hope you enjoyed this sermon and will continue to listen to all of the content we put out as we encourage you to live faithfully for Jesus, 168 hours of every week.