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 to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and 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.” (Exodus 20:8-11 ESV)
This commandment is the only one of the ten that is not referenced in the New Testament. God created everything in six consecutive days without any gap in time, then blessed and sanctified it on the seventh day, making it holy.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2:1-3 ESV)
God rested from all work. He doesn’t need physical rest because He is a spirit and never grows weary (John 4:24; Isaiah 40:28). God desires relationships, and He wanted a special day to spend time with Adam and Eve for all eternity, so He blessed and sanctified it, making it holy and giving it as a gift. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week which is Saturday. It starts at dusk on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday.
God rested to provide an example for His people to follow and relax as well. But then, His Sabbath rest was interrupted by the disobedience of Adam and Eve, and sin entered into the world, so He went back to work for their protection and redemption (John 5:17).
God made a covenant with the nation of Israel that they keep the Sabbath a day of rest and cease laboring. Israel was to keep it holy because it was a ‘sign’ between God and them that He had sanctified and set them apart from all other nations throughout their generations. The observance of the Sabbath made Israel distinctly different from every kingdom surrounding them. This was so important that the punishment for breaking the Sabbath was death! (John 31:14)
During His ministry on earth, Jesus broke the Sabbath to draw attention to His Lordship and the true meaning of the Sabbath rest. He proclaimed that He was Lord of the Sabbath because He is the Lord of our salvation (Matthew 12:8). No human being was created for the Sabbath, but rather, the Sabbath was created for them (Mark 2:27). It was upon the Cross that Jesus finished the redemptive work of God and fulfilled the law of the Sabbath rest (Hebrews 10:12).
Those who repent of their sins and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior enter into the eternal rest of salvation. Jesus said,
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 ESV)
The Christian is His new creation.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (1 Corinthians 5:17 ESV)
Keeping the Sabbath day is not mentioned at all in the New Testament. Those who were Born-Again observed the first day of the week, called the Lords Day, for meeting together because it is the day Jesus was resurrected from the dead after breaking the curse of the Law on the Cross (Acts 20:6-7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10). The first day of the week is to be a day of celebration for everyone because Jesus:
- Rose from the dead!
- Met with the Disciples
- Gave the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 20:22)
- Commissioned the Disciples to preach the Gospel (Acts 1:8)
- Ascended into Heaven (Acts 1:9)
At Pentecost, the Church began on the first day of the week (Acts2:1-47). The ‘first’ day speaks of the natural life of creation, the eternal life of redemption, the old life of sin, and the new supernatural life found in Jesus. It is the Lord’s day. The Sabbath day speaks of the work of God’s hands and the display of His power. The Lord’s Day speaks of God’s heart and displays His grace. The Sabbath day speaks of the Law and the Lord's Day speaks of His love.
A person enters the Sabbath rest of salvation only through the Cross of Christ.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 ESV)
The Christian keeps the Sabbath holy by setting themselves apart for God and living a holy and pleasing life before Him. They do that by setting themselves apart daily from the culture around them by following the Commandments of God.
Christians are commanded not to neglect meeting together so they can encourage one another and spend time together in worship (Hebrews 10:25). The Lord's Day is a day of liberty and not legalism. It is not a rule to abide by, but a happy day of celebration with family and their brothers and sisters in Jesus.
The Lord's Day begins at dusk on Saturday, so Christians should look forward to the next day with joyous anticipation by preparing for it. Fathers should help their children get ready then. That will make the morning less hectic and keep impatience in check.
The Lord’s Day is the time to celebrate Jesus coming out of the grave. Every Lord’s Day is Easter! It is all about singing songs of worship and praise to Him - not just about Him. Enjoy it and have fun together.
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12 ESV)
The fifth commandment links the first four, emphasizing our relationship with God. The last five commandments are all directly related to how people should treat each other. The culture of humanity is held together by God’s moral laws.
This Commandment is the first that gives a promise to those who are obedient and will result in long life and prosperity. A child who honors their parents learns self-control and obedience to God’s Word and will become a person of good character. They will obey the laws of health and become a law-abiding citizen.
It is the responsibility of the children to “Honor” their “father and mother” no matter what their age by having a teachable and respectful attitude (Proverbs 23:22). Parents are commanded to maintain a right relationship with God and teach their children to fear/honor and stand in awe of Him (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Honoring parents involves teachable and obedient attitudes by the children.
“Children, obey your parents in 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." (Ephesians 6:1-3 ESV)
Honoring and respecting parents consists of respecting their instruction, which must be taken from the Bible first and foremost. Parents are to teach the Bible to their children in everything they do and how they live their lives because they represent God (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). Parents are to answer their children’s questions about God (Deuteronomy 6:20-25).
Parents don’t have to be perfect for their kids to honor them as their Father and Mother. Kids want to know if a parent is being authentic and not a hypocrite by the way they live. The best way for the Father to live an honorable life before his children is to love their Mother as Jesus loves His bride, the Church. The best way for the Mother to live an honorable life before her children is to love their Father as God has commanded her (1 Peter 3:1-6). Parents should be openly loving and tenderly affectionate with each other to be role models for their kids to emulate. What is essential in a good marriage is not how often a person has been intimate with their spouse but how often they have been intimate with their children with tender affection.
Unconditional support for children should always be given, affirming their right choices, showing appreciation for their help, fully listening to them, and giving them what they need and not what they want. Complement their character more than their talent. It is crucial to be constantly tender and playfully affectionate with them. Hugging them is vital to their emotional health. Studies have shown that when a Father is not consistently affectionate with his children, the odds of sexual promiscuity and same-sex attraction increase exponentially.
Fathers must not stir up or provoke anger in their children. Fathers are to bless their children in the name of Jesus and comfort them with Jesus. Parents must always reconfirm their love for them just as God does for them and pray for them daily so that they don’t become discouraged (Colossians 3:21). Children need encouragement like plants need water. Prayer shows them they are valued for who they are and not for what they have done.
Children need reasonable rules to be set by their parents with love to have security in their lives. Not having rules imply disinterest in them and will lead to feelings of rejection. Suppose a child of any age is disobedient and disrespectful to their parents and sets aside God’s authority. In that case, they will cultivate a law-breaking character and become self-willed, and defy the laws of both God and humanity, which most often leads to a shorter life.
Today is more important than ever that children know there are provable, verifiable facts and objective standards to live by. That will help them trust God’s Word throughout their lives rather than subjective personal biases, viewpoints, and opinions based upon the fallen human senses of ‘taste, smell, sight, hear and feel; therefore, it must be real.’
Parents are to “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6 ESV). That means parents are to dedicate themselves to leading and teaching their children how to walk in the ways of God so as they grow old they will not turn away from them. The best way to begin is to honor God in everything you do.
“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22 ESV)
“Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the LORD.” (Psalm 119:1 NLT)
Make the home a happy place filled with fun, laughter, and joy. Make it easy for children to honor you by honoring God first in everything.
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
“You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13 ESV)
This commandment forbids the murder of human beings who are created in the image of God, and it is His glorious gift. Life is not accidental. It is intentional. There are only two possibilities for the creation of life. Either it is by spontaneous generation of evolution, or it is a supernatural act of God.
“...then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Genesis 2:7 ESV)
Evolution is a scientific theory and not a fact. 96 percent of scientists believe it is an empirical and irrefutable fact that individual human life begins at conception when the 23 chromosomes of the father’s sperm fuse with the 23 chromosomes of the mother’s egg to create a single-cell embryo or zygote containing 46 chromosomes with 30,000 genes combined to determine its own unique DNA code containing such things as all of a person’s physical characteristics: sex; facial features; body type; the color of hair; eyes and skin.
The fertilized egg immediately travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where the lining has been prepared for implantation. Just moments after conception, the cells will divide into two groups: two into three for a millisecond, verifying a unique life has begun, then into four, four into eight, and so on.
The family exists to protect physical life. Fathers are to teach their children that Jesus is the source of life.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4 ESV)
God wants us to have abundant life. The enemy wants us to have death.
”The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10 ESV)
The enemy is a murderer, the father of lies, and the great deceiver.
“He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44b ESV)
Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” because “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:27-30 ESV).
The life that Jesus gives is eternal, and NO one, including the enemy, can ever take them out of His hands! God and the enemy have one thing in common – God wants the Christian to die to self, and the enemy just wants them dead. Every Christian is to choose life by loving and obeying God.
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“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20 ESV)
Murder is specifically premeditated killing. This command does not prohibit war or capital punishment (Deuteronomy 17:20; 19:12, 20-21). The Bible says a person “shall not murder.” It does not say, ‘you shall not kill.’ The most dangerous place for a human being in America is a mother's womb. One out of every five women will intentionally end a pregnancy by having an abortion. Over 700,000 people die from cancer every year in the United States of America. However, over 900,000 people die each year from abortion which is the number one cause of death.
The Bible makes a clear distinction between murder and killing in self-defense.
"He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.” (Exodus 21:12-14 ESV)
Jesus expanded this commandment and pointed to a much wider range it must be applied, including the mental process which potentially leads to the act of murder. God has given every Christian the ministry of reconciliation.
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18 ESV)
"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, ’Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ’You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. "Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, "leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:21-24 ESV)
"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, "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:43-45 ESV)
The Bible teaches that the path toward obedience and fulfillment of the Law is a path of love toward God and our fellow human beings. A person cannot truly love themselves apart from loving God and their neighbor.
“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:19-21 ESV)
The actual fulfillment of all the Law is through love.
“For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:9-10 ESV)
The Bible tells us that God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness and that the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:3, 2:1-3; Romans 5:5). God has given us the power to love our neighbor and fulfill His commands. If a person truly knows God, the evidence will be seen in their lives.
“Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:15-18 ESV)
“If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” (1 John 4:20-21 ESV
Anyone who hates a fellow human being is a murderer, and whoever claims to love God but hates another person is a liar. The Bible reveals that the real core issue is the human heart which it says is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9 KJV). Sin is not just something a person does because it starts in the heart.
“And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, "thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man." (Mark 7:20-23 ESV)
