Rev. David Holwick  Q                                         Mothers' Day
First Baptist Church                                          Communion
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 14, 1995
                                                            Exodus 19:3-8
                       
                         LAYING DOWN THE LAW


  I. Mom, the Lawgiver.
      A. The Enforcer.
          1) Dad often not around.  Twice gone for a year in the Army.
          2) Fighting in backseat of '56 Chevy, Mom enforced Law by reaching
                back with long fingernails and raking our bodies as we hid 
                   on floor.

      B. We don't like laws.
          1) Isuzu (?) commercial, "Stay between the lines."
              a) We want to zoom off where we want.
          2) What we resent are discipline and commandments, especially
                prohibitions.
              a) Out of Ten Commandments, 8 are negative.  Maybe 9!
                  1> Summarized as "Thou shalt not!"
              b) We don't like the word "no."
          3) The Ten Commandments present us with uncompromising demands.
              a) We prefer quibbling over gray areas.
              b) We may not accept 10 Comm., but we must confront them.

      C. We need laws.
          1) Humans require boundaries.
          2) Lack of boundaries doesn't lead to freedom, but license.

 II. Why study the Ten Commandments?
      A. Some think they can be improved on.

         A few years back Ted Turner, the outspoken chairman of
            Turner Broadcasting System and creator of CNN, declared
               the Ten Commandments to be outmoded.
         He said they weren't relevant to current global problems
            such as overpopulation and the arms race.

         He told the audience, "I bet nobody here even pays much
            attention to 'em, because they are too old."
         "Commandments are out."
         To replace them, Turner offered his own "Ten Voluntary
            Initiatives."
         They included: to help the downtrodden, to love and respect
            planet Earth, and to limit families to two children.
         He concluded by calling Christianity a religion for losers.
                                                                    #1081
      B. The Ten Commandments have permanency.
          1) Other systems have come and gone, but these remain.
              a) Not earliest law code, but best known.
              b) Almost all societies hold to most of these principles.
              c) Even Russia has returned to them.

                   In 1990 the Soviet Union was coming apart at the
                      seams.
                   That year alone, crime rose 38%.
                   The communist ideology that once provided a guide
                      for living was now being openly rejected.
                   A Christian scholar who traveled there said, "By their
                      own admission, they have lost their moral roots,
                         they have lost the glue in their society."

                   Even atheists in the government and education began
                      looking at spiritual ideas to provide stability
                         in society.
                   The Academy of Science of the USSR actually invited
                      some born-again Christian scholars to Russia to
                         study the Ten Commandments with them.
                   They wanted to see if there was a connection between
                      understanding of biblical values and a sense of
                         fulfillment and purpose in individual lives.
                                                                    #3169
      C. This generation needs them more than ever.

         James Patterson and Peter Kim did some interesting research and
            published the results in 1991 in a book called, "The Day
               America Told the Truth."
         Their conclusion was that moral erosion continues In America.
         They report that 74 percent of Americans will steal from those
            who won't miss it, and 64 percent will lie for convenience as
               long as no one is hurt.

         Most Americans (93 percent) say they alone decide moral issues,
            basing their decisions on their own experience or whims.
         Eighty-four percent say they would break the rules of their own
            religion.
         And 81 percent have violated a law they felt to be inappropriate.
         Only 30 percent say they would be willing to die for their
            religious beliefs or for God.
                                                                    #1910
          1) The crisis of our society is not religious, but ethical.
              a) Religion is no longer attacked because few pay much
                    attention to it.
              b) Ethics is the new battleground.
          2) In the past, everyone agreed on moral foundation.  Not now.

III. The foundation of the Christian ethic.
      A. Two sections, two directions.
          1) Duty to God.
              a) God is supreme.
              b) He is to be revered.
              c) Our true value lies in the fact that we are God's
                    creation.
              d) Without God, society looks at people as things and not
                    persons.
          2) Duty to man.
              a) People are to be respected.
              b) Without a human emphasis, religion becomes remote.

      B. Principles, not regulations.
          1) The Ten Commandments don't attempt to give a series of
                rules for every situation.
          2) Circumstances and applications may change, but the basic
                principle of reverence and respect remains.

 IV. Ten Commandments and Christians.
      A. We cannot obey our way into heaven.
          1) We are saved by God's grace.
          2) The New Testament often contrasts Law with Grace.
              a) Law points out our sin, results in death.
              b) Grace points our God's love, leads to salvation.

      B. God's laws lay out the boundaries.
          1) Jesus came to fulfill the law, not destroy it.
          2) We are free, but not free to sin.
          3) Ten Commandments let us know what God considers acceptable.

      C. To obey is better than sacrifice.
          1) Whose rules will we obey?  God's, or ours?


[for documentation of illustrations, download Holwick's Sermon Illustration
       database at http://illust.holwick.com]


====================   extra notes [mostly Barclay]  =======================

  I. Jesus came to fulfill the law, not destroy it.
      A. A big part of our heritage is the Ten Commandments.
      B. Not just our heritage, but world's.
      C. They contain the basic laws of human conduct in society.

 II. A negative cast.
      A. Eight (nine?) out of ten are in negative.
      B. Most common criticism is they are ten "Thou shalt not's".
      C. They had to be negative to mold the Jewish people into a
            nation.
          1) They are a beginning.
          2) The community had to start off with self-limitations.