4th Commandment: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God..."

 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: 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: 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."

The Sabbath is not introduced as a new institution but as having been founded at creation. It is to be remembered and observed as the memorial of the Creator's work. Pointing to God as the Maker of the heavens and the earth, it distinguishes the true God from all false gods. All who keep the seventh day signify by this act that they are worshipers of Jehovah. Thus the Sabbath is the sign of man's allegiance to God as long as there are any upon the earth to serve Him. The fourth commandment is the only one of all the ten in which are found both the name and the title of the Lawgiver. It is the only one that shows by whose authority the law is given. Thus it contains the seal of God, affixed to His law as evidence of its authenticity and binding force.

God has given me six days wherein to labor, and He requires that their own work be done in the six working days. Acts of necessity and mercy are permitted on the Sabbath, the sick and suffering are at all times to be cared for; but unnecessary labor is to be strictly avoided. "Turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and . . . honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure." Isaiah 58:13. Nor does the prohibition end here. "Nor speaking thine own words," says the prophet. Those who discuss business matters or lay plans on the Sabbath are regarded by God as though engaged in the actual transaction of business. To keep the Sabbath holy, we should not even allow our minds to dwell upon things of a worldly character. And the commandment includes all within our gates. The inmates of the house are to lay aside their worldly business during the sacred hours. All should unite to honor God by willing service upon His holy day.

Patriarchs and Prophets page 307

3rd Commandment: "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."

"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."

This commandment not only prohibits false oaths and common swearing, but it forbids us to use the name of God in a light or careless manner, without regard to its awful significance. By the thoughtless mention of God in common conversation, by appeals to Him in trivial matters, and by the frequent and thoughtless repetition of His name, we dishonor Him.

"Holy and reverend is His name." Psalm 111:9.

All should meditate upon His majesty, His purity and holiness, that the heart may be impressed with a sense of His exalted character; and His holy name should be uttered with reverence and solemnity.

Patriachs and Prophets page 306 and 307

2nd Commandment: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them..."

 "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them."

The second commandment forbids the worship of the true God by images or similitudes. Many heathen nations claimed that their images were mere figures or symbols by which the Deity was worshiped, but God has declared such worship to be sin. The attempt to represent the Eternal One by material objects would lower man's conception of God. The mind, turned away from the infinite perfection of Jehovah, would be attracted to the creature rather than to the Creator. And as his conceptions of God were lowered, so would man become degraded.

"I the Lord thy God am a jealous God."

The close and sacred relation of God to His people is represented under the figure of marriage. Idolatry being spiritual adultery, the displeasure of God against it is fitly called jealousy.

"Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me."

It is inevitable that children should suffer from the consequences of parental wrongdoing, but they are not punished for the parents' guilt, except as they participate in their sins. It is usually the case, however, that children walk in the steps of their parents. By inheritance and example the sons become partakers of the father's sin. Wrong tendencies, perverted appetites, and debased morals, as well as physical disease and degeneracy, are transmitted as a legacy from father to son, to the third and fourth generation. This fearful truth should have a solemn power to restrain men from following a course of sin.

"Showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments."

In prohibiting the worship of false gods, the second commandment by implication enjoins the worship of the true God. And to those who are faithful in His service, mercy is promised, not merely to the third and fourth generation as is the wrath threatened against those who hate Him, but to thousands of generations.

Patriachs and Prophets page 305 and 306

1st Commandment: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

The precepts of the Decalogue are adapted to all mankind, and they were given for the instruction and government of all. Ten precepts, brief, comprehensive, and authoritative, cover the duty of man to God and to his fellow man; and all based upon the great fundamental principle of love.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." Luke 10:27. See also Deuteronomy 6:4, 5; Leviticus 19:18.

In the Ten Commandments these principles are carried out in detail, and made applicable to the condition and circumstances of man.

"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent, uncreated One, Himself the Source and Sustainer of all, is alone entitled to supreme reverence and worship. Man is forbidden to give to any other object the first place in his affections or his service. Whatever we cherish that tends to lessen our love for God or to interfere with the service due Him, of that do we make a god.

Patriarchs and Prophets page 305

GIVE YOUR ANGER TO GOD

From Solid Ground daily devotionals by Mark Finley

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. Prov. 16:32

We get control of our anger by giving it up to God. An inner-city kid named Ben can teach us how.

Ben grew up in a Detroit ghetto, a place where anger flows freely in the streets, where getting even with anyone who disrespects you is a way of life.

By the time Ben reached high school, he had developed quite a temper. As he listened to the radio one afternoon his buddy yelled, “You call that music?” and flipped the dial to another station. Ben shot back, “It’s better than what you like!” and grabbed the dial.

His buddy resisted, and is that instant a blind anger took hold of Ben. He grabbed the camping knife that he carried in his back pocket, snapped it open, and lunged at his friend’s belly. The blade hit his friend’s ROTC belt buckle with such force that it snapped and dropped to the ground.

Ben stared down at the broken blade, and his knees just about gave way. He had almost killed someone. He’d almost killed a good friend. Over what?

This incident forced Ben to face his anger head-on. He had to do something about it. He could not handle his temper alone. Ben prayed, “Lord, You have to take this temper from me. If You don’t, I’ll never be free from it. You can change me.”

Back home, Ben locked himself in a bathroom and began reading the book of Proverbs. He read many texts that spoke pointedly about uncontrolled anger and where it leads. The words seemed written just for him. This verse impressed him the most: “He who is slow to anger is better that the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (Prov. 16:32).

“The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression” (Prov. 19:11). We become angry when we magnify the errors of others. We become obsessed with what another has done to us. Their actions control us.

This is what happened to Ben. He knew he had to deal with it. Proverbs provided the key. He agreed with the wise man that “wrath is cruel and anger a torrent” (Prov. 27:4), and “he who is slow to anger allays contention” (Prov. 15:18).

These words gave Ben hope, something to aim at. He made a commitment to read the Scriptures each day and gave himself and his problem wholeheartedly to God. A sense of peace replaced Ben’s anguish and panic. As he walked out of that room he felt God had changed him.

God dealt decisively with this young man’s uncontrolled anger. The hands that had once lunged with a knife became the disciplined, skilled hands of a surgeon. Ben Carson became one of America’s respected pediatric neurosurgeons.

God can deal with your anger too, but only if you give it to Him. Is there any anger in your heart? Why not give it to God as you pray today.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

From the Devotional book "The Promises of God" by H.M.S. Richards

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee (Isa. 49:15).

Can a woman forget her child? She may, but it’s unnatural. A little girl was told by her busy mother to go and play with her dolls, but the child complained, “I just love them and love them, but they never love me back.” And so God keeps loving us and loving us, but often we do not love Him back. Yet He does not forget us, even as a mother does not forget her wandering son, but remembers him as her baby.

“If I am thy child, O God,” said Augustine at the time of his conversion, “it is because thou didst give me such a mother.” And surely many of us may say that.

Of the daughter of Pharaoh it is written, “She saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept” (Ex. 2:6). A true woman may resist many things, but no woman with a mother’s heart can resist the cry of her own child. How many thousands of mother’s have sacrificed their lives for their babies! The story is as old as the world and as sweet as heaven. God uses it to picture His love to us. “Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.”

A true mother never forgets, never forsakes. She follows her babe through childhood, adulthood, and down to the end to the darkest path the world has ever known. She never forgets.

From the great father-mother heart of God comes the promise “Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.” He will not forget, because He loves and cares.

MEDITATION PRAYER: “Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old” (Ps. 25:6).

PULL THE RIP CORD OF FAITH

Solid Ground daily devotionals by Mark Finley

 

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:5

Sandy’s friends craned their necks up at the blue sky and caught her tiny figure hurling itself out of the plane. This was her first time to jump without a line, and this time Sandy was going to pull the rip cord herself.

Her friends far below counted with her – one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand. But the parachute didn’t open. Nothing was happening. They waited as Sandy fell farther and farther. Why didn’t she pull the rip cord? If something was wrong, what about her reserve chute?

Tragically, this young woman plummeted all the way to the ground and died instantly. When the ground crew rushed to the site, they noticed her parachute still folded neatly in the pack on her back. What had happened?

Then they saw the cloth of her jumpsuit torn away on the right side of her chest. It seemed as if she’s been desperately clawing at it. In fact, she’s dug through her clothing and actually lacerated her flesh with her fingers. The terrible truth dawned on them. Her rip cord was on her left side! In a moment of panic she had forgotten and kept pulling and yanking and clawing at the rip cord on the right, but it wasn’t there.

Is it possible that we are frantically pulling on a rip cord that isn’t there? Any time we trust in our own strength to overcome temptation we are pulling on a cord that isn’t there. Any time we trust our own power to overcome the enemy we are diving for disaster. It wasn’t that Sandy didn’t put forth any effort – she was frantic. She tried as hard as she could. Her problem was that her effort was misplaced.

The Scriptures make two counterbalancing statements. The first says, “I can do nothing.” The second says, “I can do all things.” Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Without Him all of our best efforts are in vain. Without Him we are powerless. Without Him all of our best efforts are doomed to failure. “Human effort avails nothing without divine power” (Prophets and Kings, p. 487).

The apostles pulls the right rip cord when triumphantly declares, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). Through Jesus the weak become strong. In His strength and power we are overcomers. Our Lord has never lost a battle with the enemy. He is not about to begin now. Grasp His power. Fight in His strength. Yield to His grace. Pull the rip cord of faith.