THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
A sermon by the Rev. Lawson M. Smith – 1998, 2011, 2020
Lesson:
THE DECALOGUE TEACHES WHAT EVILS ARE SINS.
Doctrine of Life 53. What nation in the wide world is not aware that it is evil to steal, to commit adultery, to murder, and to bear false witness? If men were not aware of this, and if they did not by laws guard against the commission of these evils, it would be all over with them; for without such laws the community, the commonwealth, and the kingdom would perish. Who can imagine that the Israelitish nation was so much more senseless than other nations as not to know that these were evils? One might therefore wonder why these laws, known as they are the world over, were promulgated from Mount Sinai by Jehovah Himself with so great a miracle. But listen: they were promulgated with so great a miracle in order that men may know that these laws are not only civil and moral laws, but are also spiritual laws; and that to act contrary to them is not only to do evil to a fellow-citizen and to the community, but is also to sin against God. For this reason those laws, through promulgation from Mount Sinai by Jehovah, were made laws of religion; for it is evident that whatever Jehovah God commands, He commands in order that it may be of religion, and that it is to be done for His sake, and for the sake of the man that he may be saved.
Doctrine of Life 57. As by means of this Law there is a conjunction of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord, it is called the “Covenant” and the “Testimony,” the “Covenant” because it conjoins, and the “Testimony” because it bears witness, for a “covenant” signifies conjunction, and a “testimony” the attestation of it. For this reason there were two tables, one for the Lord and the other for man. The conjunction is effected by the Lord, but only when the man does the things that have been written in his table. For the Lord is constantly present and working, and wills to enter in, but man must open to the Lord in the freedom which he has from Him; for the Lord says:
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will have supper with him, and he with Me (Rev. 3:20).
Doctrine of Life 58. In the second table, which is for man, it is not said that man must do this or that good, but that he must not do this or that evil, as for example, “Thou shalt not murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet.” The reason is that man cannot do any good whatever from himself, but when he no longer does evils, then he does good, not from himself but from the Lord.
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“Happy is the man who fears Jehovah; in His commandments he delights exceedingly.” (Psalm 112:1)
There are people who act as though the Ten Commandments are good for children, but that when you become an adult, there are more practical rules for behavior. In business, in government, in family life, and so on, people seem to think they have outgrown the Ten Commandments. Even in religion, some churches have taught that Christians are not under the law. They go so far as to say that human beings cannot obey the commandments because we are so weak and sinful.
This attitude is a great pity, because everyone would be so much happier if we kept the Lord’s commandments. We could avoid so much grief, pain, crime, sickness, expense, even accidents, if we would just put some sincere effort into keeping the commandments. The economy would be so much more productive. There would be plenty for all, and good employment for all. Marriages and homes would be strong, loving environments where children could grow up in a healthy way. The generation of the upright would be blessed. Wealth and riches would be in our houses, and our justice would stand forever (Ps. 112:2-3). The Lord was quite serious when He gave us the words of the psalm, “Happy is the man who fears Jehovah, who delights greatly in His commandments” (v. 1).
All things of religion are gathered together in the Ten Commandments. They are the first principles of the Bible. They were the first part of the Old Testament that the Lord gave to Moses. God spoke the Ten Commandments in a living voice from Mount Sinai, amidst thunder, lightning, smoke, earthquake, and a loud trumpet, to emphasize that the idea of not murdering, committing adultery, stealing, lying, and coveting are not mere man-made rules, but Divine laws (Life 53, 62). They are the path to eternal life, not just to a peaceful society. All religions everywhere around the world include these laws. And all who keep these laws for God’s sake are saved, no matter what other beliefs they may hold. After death, they gladly receive instruction from angels, because a person living a good life loves the truth (Life 65). “To the upright, light arises in the darkness” (v. 4). But all who do not live according to them for religious reasons are damned, because they are unwilling to be taught, nor to give up their harmful ways.
The Lord gave us the Decalogue to show us what evils are sins, that is, what harmful behaviors and attitudes create barriers between us and Him. We learn that all kinds of murder, adultery, theft, and false witness, with their lusts, are evils that we must shun as sins against God (Life VII). To the extent that we get involved in these evils, we close the Lord out of our lives with His love and wisdom. Spiritually, we live in the cold and dark of hell.
On the other hand, the wonderful truth is that so far as anyone shuns or flees from all kinds of murder as sins, he grows in love towards the neighbor. Murder includes hatred, revenge, grudges, resentment, contempt, all kinds of verbal and physical cruelty, character assassination, and so forth. In the spiritual sense, murder involves wishing to destroy a person’s soul. In the deepest sense, it is hatred of the Lord. All the different levels of murder are closely linked. If we harbor a serious grudge against someone, inside we also hate the Lord, though we may not realize it. The Lord warns us to watch out for these attitudes and habits in ourselves, because all human beings have a weakness for hatred. From the time we’re children, we are taught to cover our murderous feelings with the civil and moral principles of life among other people. But if we only cover them up for the sake of our reputation, we remain devils on the inside, however nice we may be on the outside.
But the Lord provides us freedom to see the truth and to make a choice. If we recognize an evil to be a sin and deliberately turn away from it, not just in our outward behavior but in our thoughts and intentions, then the opposite good qualities automatically begin to flow in from the Lord. “His heart is supported; he shall not fear, until he shall look upon his adversaries” (v. 8)
The Lord is like the sun of heaven, radiating the warmth of love and the light of truth to us. As God is love itself, He is always reaching out to share His love and light with us. As soon as we turn away from the opposing evils, our minds and hearts open up to His gifts, and they pour in. So we read, “When a person is no longer in the evil of murder, but in the good of love towards the neighbor, then whatever he does is a good [result] of that love, so it is a good work…. A magistrate who is in that good, as often as he… pronounces judgment, does a good work, because he acts from the love of caring for the good of his country, of the society to which he belongs, and of his fellow citizens. In like manner a merchant [or businessman] does a good work; if he is in that good, every one of his business transactions is a good work. There is in it the love of the neighbor, and the neighbor is his country, his society, his fellow-citizens, and also his servants [or employees], whose welfare he cares for along with his own. A workman also who is in the good of love towards the neighbor, under the influence of that love works faithfully for others as for himself, fearing his neighbor’s loss as his own. The doings of all these people are good works because so far as anyone shuns evil, so far he does good… And a person who shuns evil as sin does good not from himself, but from the Lord” (Life 72). “The good man is gracious and lends; he shall maintain his affairs in judgment” (v. 5).
Similarly, as far as anyone shuns all kinds of adultery as sins, so far he loves chastity, that is, cleanness of mind and heart. Not chastity in the sense of abstinence from physical relations, but abstinence from any intimacy outside of marriage, for true married love is holy, pure and clean above every other love. No one can know the blessed cleanness of marriage unless he shuns all kinds of obscene speech, actions and stimulation as sins against God. But the more a person first turns away from such things, and then flees from them, and finally fights and abominates them in himself or in herself, the more such a person comes to perceive the blessedness and peace of true married love. Obscenity, lasciviousness and adultery are hell with a person, so as we deliberately turn away from them, the Lord is able to open heaven in us, and let the sweet fresh air of springtime in heaven flow into our spirits. “He shall not fear an evil report; his heart is prepared, trusting in Jehovah” (v. 7).
As far as anyone shuns all kinds of stealing as sins, he loves honesty. Stealing includes all kinds of fraud and depriving another of his goods under any pretext. The evil of theft, we are told, enters more deeply into a person than any other, because it is united with cunning and deceit. The problem is that we lie to others and to ourselves to the point that we see nothing wrong. Then our minds are tightly closed to the light of truth, which could set us free from slavery to evil. But if we shun, that is, avoid or flee from stealing, to that extent we love honesty, integrity, justice, faithfulness, and uprightness. We cannot love these virtues from ourselves, just from self-interest. But if we shun fraud, cunning and deceit as sins, then we become principled in these virtues not from ourselves but from the Lord, because we are open to the influence of His light. Slimy, sneaky, deceitful attitudes cannot hide in the light of heaven, so they slink away, and angels come into our minds instead. “He has dispersed, he has given to the needy; his justice stands forever; his horn shall be exalted in glory” (v. 9).
As far as anyone shuns all kinds of false witness as sins, he loves what is true. False witness includes lying of all kinds, especially gossip and deliberate lies to damage others’ reputations. On a deeper level it also includes persuading someone that something bad is okay, even clever or virtuous, and that something good is bad or contemptible. On the lowest level it is to belittle the Lord and His Word. All these kinds of false witness go together in someone who tells lies. But the more we shun false witness, the more precious the truth becomes to us, and the more we are aware of the beauty of seeing clearly what is right. The truth becomes like good seed falling on fertile ground in our minds, bringing forth a bountiful harvest of honesty together with kindness, and the peace of acting according to conscience. “For to eternity he shall not be moved; the just shall be for a remembrance eternally” (v. 6).
We cannot keep the commandments and shun evils as sins inwardly, unless we fight against evils in ourselves. It’s not our fault, but the fact is that human nature is full of weaknesses toward every kind of perversity. Every generation that doesn’t keep the Lord’s commandments makes the problem worse. So inevitably there is a part of us that enjoys murder or cruelty, obscene pleasures, sneaky cleverness, and defamation of other people. The only way to get rid of these attitudes is by fighting them in ourselves from a higher point of view. It’s a battle.
Everyone who believes there is a hell and a heaven, a heaven of eternal happiness and a hell of eternal misery, and that the good go to heaven but the evil to hell, takes up the struggle against his lower nature. Then good from the Lord gradually takes the place of evil. Now, from a real appreciation of the joys of a good life, a person looks evil in the face. Now we can see that instead of being pleasant and clever, it is horrible. So he not only avoids it, but holds it in aversion, and at last abominates it. This battle, the Lord says, is not grievous or terribly hard, except for people who have relaxed all restraints on their lusts and deliberately indulged them, and for people who have confirmed themselves in rejecting the holy things of the Word and the Church. This is not talking about occasional failings, but an attitude that says, “The Ten Commandments are for kids and wimps—not me.” For others, however, the combat is not too tough. We read, “Let them resist evils in intention [before they get into act], only once a week or twice in a month, and they will perceive a change” (Life 97). “The wicked one shall see and be provoked; he shall gnash with his teeth and melt; the lusting of the wicked shall perish” (v. 10).
The first and great commandment of all is to love the Lord with all our heart and soul and strength. The reason is, we cannot shun or fight against evil in ourselves by our own strength and accomplish anything more than a temporary cover-up, unless we look to the Lord, ask Him for help, and do it for Him. We must shun evils and fight them as if by our own strength, because it feels to us as if we’re on our own. The Lord wants us to have and feel responsibility for our lives, and to make real choices. He will not compel us. So we need to examine ourselves, confess our sins before God, desist from them, and begin a new life, all as if on our own. But at the same time, we need to know that the Lord is the One giving us the inspiration, the objectivity, the hope of amendment, and deliverance from evil. That way we remain open to His help, His warmth and light, and we do not become conceited and contemptuous of fellow sinners.
The Lord gave us wonderful, easy to use tools, so that we can prepare ourselves for heaven, for a life of true love towards our neighbors, and for growing closeness with God Himself, the source of love and truth. These tools are called the Ten Commandments. They work just as well now as they did 3000 years ago. They are the essence of religion. They are the fabric of human nature, indeed of the whole universe. The power of the Lord God is in them. Let’s use them to investigate our lives and our spirits. Let’s find a problem area that we can work on for the Lord’s sake, for our neighbors’ and loved ones’ sake, and for our own eternal happiness. Let’s ask the Lord for help to be honest with ourselves and the guts to make a few changes, and go for it, because what the Lord said in the psalm is true: “Happy is the man who fears the Lord, who delights exceedingly in His commandments.” Amen.