Theological term
The Decalogue
4 sermons · All terms
December 15, 2021 - Wednesday Night Bible Study - Exodus 20:7 & 3rd Commandment
The third commandment — 'You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain' — is examined through its prohibition, its rationale, and its positive demands. The names of God in Scripture are not arbitrary labels but revelatory vehicles disclosing his being, perfections, and covenant faithfulness; to misuse them is therefore to assault God himself. The sermon surveys specific violations — blasphemy, unlawful oaths, the manipulation of God's name for personal ends, misapplication of providence, and doctrinal heresy — before turning to the positive uses Scripture requires: reverent prayer, lawful oaths, proper worship, and a life of sincere profession that does not give occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.
The Priorities of Discipleship
Matthew 8:21–22 presents the second of two discipleship case studies: a man who asks permission to bury his father before following Christ. Jesus' reply — 'Let the dead bury their own dead' — is not a dismissal of filial duty but a radical assertion of the absolute priority Christ claims over every legitimate and illegitimate concern. The sermon traces this demand of total allegiance across the Decalogue, the Shema, Joshua 24, and Matthew's own Gospel, demonstrating that undivided devotion to Christ is not a new imposition but the consistent heartbeat of biblical religion. The call is to repent of the 'let me first' attitude and to pursue Christ as the supreme priority, sustained by the surpassing value of His kingdom.
The Potential Dangers Facing Israel
Deuteronomy 6:10–16 sets before Israel three concrete dangers they will face upon entering the promised land, dangers that map directly onto the experience of the new covenant church. Prosperity tempts God's people to forget the giver and embrace practical atheism; the gods of surrounding nations tempt them to forsaking covenant loyalty for idolatry; and hardship tempts them to test God's faithfulness by calling his word into question. The sermon calls believers to respond to God's grace with fear, service, and oath-bound covenant loyalty — and to resist the governing power of emotion, circumstance, and felt experience in favour of the unchanging word.
The Tenth Commandment
The Tenth Commandment — 'You shall not covet' — reaches past external conduct to regulate the intentions and desires of the heart, exposing sins that civil law cannot punish and that no amount of outward morality can conceal. This exposition of Deuteronomy 5:21 identifies three things the commandment prohibits — inordinate desire, discontentedness, and envy — and then establishes the theological reason for the prohibition: covetousness is idolatry, bringing the Decalogue full circle from the First Commandment back to itself. Nine positive helps for mortifying covetousness are set forth, culminating in the active obedience of Christ imputed to believers — the only ground of hope for those whom this commandment finds out.