Featured Sermon: Thou Shalt Not WHAT?

Millions of Christians think the Ten Commandments should be placed in every school and every courthouse, as the cornerstone of our society. Do they know what they’re asking for?

[Back in October 2008, Jean wrote an article on the Ten Commandments, explaining what they are and how important they are to Sarah Palin. The original, with commentary about Palin's beliefs, may be found here. -Ed.

Almost every day, I can pick up the paper and see an article about the Ten Commandments. Someone is suing to have them removed from a courthouse. Someone else is upset because a Christian donated a granite monument carved with the Commandments for a public school.

In each of those articles, I see the tens of thousands of local Christians -- millions across the nation -- who are standing up and shouting, "We want everyone to obey our God's Commandments, whether they believe in him or not! That's what American freedom of religion is all about!"

It's in letters to the editor. It's in editorials. It's in protests outside schools. It's in school board elections, turning out the Godless who would promote "evil-ution" and Darwinism and remove "under God" from the Pledge.

I hear God's people loud and clear! They want everyone in this Christian Nation to follow God's Law, starting with the Ten Commandments! Don't you hear them?

The sad fact is, many of these Christians, who wish we would place the Ten Commandments as the cornerstone of our society and basis of our laws, can't even list them.

Can you? Take a moment, and see if you can remember them all.

OK, let's see how we all did!

The Ten Commandments are found in Exodus 20:

1 And God spake all these words, saying,

2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

There it is, Commandment #1. God directs us to pray to Him ONLY. No other gods.

No Allah, no Buddha, no Vishnu, no Mary, no Lord and Lady, no Darwin, and no Cthulhu. Under the Ten Commandments, America must only allow people to worship God.

The Ten Commandments vividly remind anyone coming to one of our schools, courts, or other public buildings that in order to be Americans, they must worship the Christian god. Anything else is illegal!

Let's move on to the second commandment.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

This looks like a direction not to create any representational artworks, but there's a follow-up:

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

In other words, the Second Commandment tells us not to pray to paintings or statues or stained glass windows. I can't think of anyone who does that . . . well, besides Hindus and Catholics and . . . you get the idea.

This is called idolatry, friends. The Ten Commandments say that God wants people to worship Him, not idols!

As a Christian nation following the Ten Commandments, American must destroy all idols -- that includes crucifixes -- and outlaw their possession. That's what the Second Commandment means.

Next we find the Third Commandment:

7 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.

Some people think Commandment #3 is a reference to using the Lord's name as a cuss word; while that's certainly blasphemy, what this really means is swearing on the Lord's name falsely, or committing perjury.

Now, perjury is already illegal in America. If you swear an oath before God (or not before God) and lie, you can be sent to jail.

The Fourth Commandment is one routinely ignored in these United States:

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 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:

11 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.

Why are stores, restaurants, gas stations, and other businesses open on Sundays? God forbids it in His Fourth Commandment, even if they're run by Jews (the "stranger that is within thy gates") or other unbelievers! Businesses of all sorts are to be closed on the Sabbath. You should not be out chopping firewood, or cooking big meals, or doing the laundry. It's a day of rest and worship!

So next time you're at a restaurant, or outside WalMart after church lets out, ask those freshly-scrubbed Christians why they are sinning (by shopping -- that's work!), and causing others to sin (by patronizing businesses open on Sunday).

Is there a Biblical punishment for those who deny God His special day? Why yes, there is! Can anyone tell me what that is? It's spelled out elsewhere in Exodus . . . I'll let you find it yourselves. Let's move on to Number Five.

12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Commandment #5 seems pretty simple, but the American nanny state refuses to let parents beat their children (use of the rod is commanded in the Bible). How can the kids be raised up in a proper, Biblical manner without proper beatings?

Tell your legislators that you support laws to rein in unruly and overly "independent" children, and the reversal of laws which prevent parents from raising welts on their whelps. Don't you want to be a Christian nation?

13 Thou shalt not kill.

The Sixth Commandment, frequently misunderstood, is a reference to murder, not execution. The Bible commands Christians to execute all sorts of people; adulterers, witches, unruly children, and certain victims of rape, for starters! How can we execute people -- usually by stoning -- without killing them?

That's just silly. The commandment means not to murder people, and to only execute them in accordance with God's Law or when absolutely necessary, such as Israel defending itself with carpet-bombing of civilian areas after the latest vicious rocket grenade attacks from Hamas.

14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Commandment Seven is not limited to "stepping out" like John Edwards and Bill Clinton and nearly all Republicans in the news today are wont to do. Divorce is not recognized in the Bible; therefore, divorcing and remarrying (as done by John McCain, Rush Limbaugh, and who knows how many others) is committing adultery.

Adulterers are to be executed under God's Law. Again, tell your legislators that you support full enforcement of the Ten Commandments as God intended! Don't you want to be a Christian nation?

15 Thou shalt not steal.

Does the Eighth Commandment say, "Thou shalt not steal BIG things"? No. It says not to steal at all. That includes stealing cable. That includes plagiarizing writing (stealing ideas). ALL stealing is a sin, and is to be punished!

God demands it. The Bible says so.

How should we punish thieves? Well, Jesus was crucified between two other men. What was it they had done? They were thieves.

Should we bring back crucifixion as a standard punishment for stealing? I don't know. The Bible doesn't say we have to use that particular method, but we can certainly go with something a bit more meaningful than "community service"!

What do you think is the appropriate, Biblical punishment for a child stealing a pack of gum from the store? Remember, stealing is stealing and sin is sin, in God's eyes.

16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

A bit redundant, perhaps, Commandment Nine addresses perjury again. We don't really need to go through it again, so let's jump onto the Tenth!

17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Commandment Ten tells us that jealousy is thought crime. Covetousness is to be punished, as it is forbidden by God.

If you find your eyes lingering on your neighbor's ass, or his slaves, or his wife, or his house, wishing they were yours, you are committing a grave sin. You are violating the Tenth Commandment, and sinning against God.

Purge those thoughts from your mind! Look lovingly at your own wife, and your own house, and your own ass. Admire your own servants. Bear in mind that these are what God gave you, and what He feels you should have. Praise Him for your robust ass, for your powerful manservant, for your wife bearing Soldiers for Christ.

Keeping up with the Joneses? Sure, it's the backbone of the American economy, but the Bible demands that we not envy others what they have. So stop it! Stop spending money to have a nicer house, or a nicer car! Don't you want to be a Christian nation?

The Ten Commandments are praised by many, but ignored by many more. Vast numbers of Americans can't even list them, yet want everyone to follow them.

We think they're right, everyone in the nation should follow God's Laws. Not just Ten, but all 600 and more!

We have to start somewhere, friends. Tell your legislators. Write a letter to the editor. Talk about it with your neighbors and church group. "Well," you can say, "The United States was founded on Christian values. Why shouldn't we have the Ten Commandments posted? It just reflects where we came from. It's our heritage, for God's sake!" The courts think so, at least in some cases.

Just remember to set a good example, Christians. Are YOU following ALL TEN Commandments? Vote in our poll, and leave a comment below!

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Jean Poole

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