Sermon Central
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On Eagles Wings
Contributed by John Lowe on Jul 23, 2012 (message contributor)
Summary: Have you ever heard the Ten Commandments described as a love letter…..A tender heartfelt message from the very heart of God? Probably not. Yet, I am convinced it is one of the most powerful expressions of God’s love in all of scripture.
On Eagles Wings
In Exodus Chapter 20, verses 3-17, there are ten things that we need to take to heart today, and keep them there for the rest of our lives. Take a moment to look them over, and keep in your mind what you hear in these verses, when you read them, because my hope and my prayer is that we will have a new understanding, and a new realization about the Ten Commandments.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 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:
5 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;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 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.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 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.
Have you ever tried to read between the lines of something? Have you ever read a letter that was sent by someone and you tried so hard to make it into something that you wanted it to say. Have you ever tried to change the wording of something, to make it be what you want it to be? Like wishing that your paycheck had one more digit on the end of it or maybe that your taxes had one digit less. That’s what Satan did, he not only wished to change it, he succeeded with changing the Ten Commandments into what he wanted it to say. He has made some Christians and Non-Christians think of them as handcuffs and leg shackles; that they are just some old rules, made up by some old guy, and none of them apply today, they just want to keep us from doing what is fun.
Have you ever heard the Ten Commandments described as a love letter…..A tender heartfelt message from the very heart of God? Probably not. Yet, I am convinced it is one of the most powerful expressions of God’s love in all of scripture. And you don’t need to read between the lines. You don’t need to add or take anything out. It’s all there. God doesn’t leave anything out. These ten statements are all encompassing, touching virtually every part of out lives. They are the parameters to live by-the truths He knows are going to provide blessing and strength, a future and a hope. These Commandments are so filled with love and hope; they are what we need to live by, not just on Sunday, but every day of our lives, because God knows if we follow these Commandments, our lives will be so much easier. God’s love was so strong that He wrote these Commandments with His own finger; He personally delivered it to His people on top of Mount Sinai. God’s love was written all over ten things carved into stone.
There are several books out today on both the secular and Christian bestseller lists that allege to reveal a “secret code” embedded in the text of Hebrew Scriptures. These books talk about how computer technology has revealed an intricate pattern embedded in the text--a code that supposedly names contemporary political leaders and spells out future events. Today, I’m not arguing that this hidden code is there or not. All I am saying is that I don’t need any secret code. I don’t need to read between the lines. I don’t need to count all the letters and spaces, multiply them by seven, and divide them by twenty-two. I don’t need to borrow a supercomputer from the Defense Department and an analyst from MIT. All I need to know is what God is plainly saying to me on the pages of my Bible. And if you’ve missed the real message of these Ten Commandments, you’ve missed a great deal. In fact, you’ve missed the very heart of God.
