Open the Bible

Colin Smith: When the preacher talks about sin and about forgiveness, we're glad to hear it because we believe it. This is a good message and we know that many need to hear it. But somehow, as best we try, it seems and feels at a distance from us.

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Open the Bible weekend with Pastor Colin Smith. And Colin, sometimes when the preacher does talk about sin and forgiveness, some of us will respond positively to that and say, "Yep, that is me. I'm a sinner. I need to be forgiven." Others will say, "Well, I don't know about that. I'm a good person."

Colin Smith: I feel like a good person. And I think still others, Steve, would say, "Yeah, well, I might believe that I'm a sinner and so forth, but I don't think I'm that bad. It doesn't really feel like it's a terribly huge issue." And the message that we're coming to today really opens this whole thing up. It's about the 10th commandment. And I think that God uses the 10th commandment often to open up the minds and hearts of people who have really lived pretty good lives.

One great example of that was a man called Saul of Tarsus. And he tells us that this was at the heart of his own testimony. A little glimpse of it in Romans chapter seven. "I would not have known what sin was," he said, having been a very religious man, "except for this commandment: the law said that you shall not covet." And that made him think not just about his actions, but about his heart. And as soon as you start looking there, then you begin to see something different.

Steve Hiller: With that introduction, let's begin our message, "Your Struggle with Contentment." Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: As we come to the 10th commandment, we read these words. God says, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or maid servant, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Now I suggest to you today, as we come to the last of our series through this fall, that the 10th commandment is actually the key to understanding all of the other nine. You see, looked at strictly, all of the other commandments are about specific actions. They're about murder, if you look at them, adultery, stealing, perjury. All of these are behaviors that can be seen.

But the 10th commandment stands all on its own, a category of one. It is different because it does not deal with behaviors that can be seen. It deals with attitudes that go on in the secret place of your heart and of mine. Now, this is very important because many Christians have the strange idea that in the Old Testament, God was only concerned with actions, and when Jesus came along in the New Testament, what he did was he put a new spin on the commandments and that he applied them to the attitudes of our hearts.

And that's why in the Sermon on the Mount, he said, as you remember, "You've heard it said, you shall not murder, but I say to you, don't even be angry with your brother in your heart. You've heard it said, do not commit adultery, but I say whoever looks on a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." We have the idea too often that Jesus put a new spin on the commandments.

But if you look at the 10th commandment and you understand it as God originally gave it, you will see that this was the original intent of Almighty God in the commandments that he gave to Moses. The reason Jesus taught as he did in the Sermon on the Mount was precisely that this was already the teaching of the Old Testament.

In other words, the 10th commandment is the one that tells us how we should understand all of the other nine. That is why we have used throughout this series the picture of each command being like a railway track with various stations down the line, because each of these commands does not just speak to one sin in particular, one observable action, but to a whole series of attitudes and actions that are related to each of these specific commands.

Each one relates not just to words and to actions but includes the secrets that live within our minds and our hearts. Now, I want us to see the unique value of this 10th commandment. It really is the key to understanding the whole of this series. And so my prayer is that we will grasp it this morning, and that as we grasp it, we will embrace it and we will follow it where it leads.

And I want simply to explain the significance and the value of this wonderful 10th commandment. Its value is first that it shows us that morally upright people are sinners in need of a savior. Now, I hope that immediately we will see, therefore, that this speaks especially to us as a congregation this morning.

See, this congregation for all its diversity—and we are different in many ways—nonetheless, I believe that this congregation can be characterized as largely a gathering of morally upright people. And this makes it extremely difficult for us to grasp the gospel. Remember that the people who responded to Jesus when he came into this world were first the prostitutes, the tax collectors, and the sinners. In today's terms, that would be terrorists and child abusers.

And the reason that they respond most quickly and immediately to the gospel is simply this: they feel their need. But for morally upright folks like us, who have a good education, never murdered anyone, never committed adultery, have not robbed a bank, raised a stable family, run a successful business, gone to church and given generously, it is honestly difficult for us to get to the point where we really feel that we have some kind of desperate need of a savior.

We see our religion instinctively as something that we offer to God, which taken along with the rest of our lives on balance should put us in a position to enter eternal life. When the preacher talks about sin and for forgiveness, we're glad to hear it because we believe it. This is a good message and we know that many need to hear it. But somehow, as best we try, it seems and feels at a distance from us. Now, if that is your condition today, then my prayer is that God will speak to you through the 10th commandment, because more than any other, this commandment is addressed to you.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Open the Bible weekend with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called "Your Struggle for Contentment." It's the 10th message in our series "The Ten Greatest Struggles of Your Life," where we're looking at the Ten Commandments and seeing how in these commandments God is addressing the greatest struggles that we face.

And in our series, Pastor Colin is pointing out these challenges of living an authentic Christian life and then giving some practical encouragement, showing us how we can grow. If you want to get a copy of the series for yourself, ask about it when you call us at 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365. Or you'll find ordering information online at openthebible.org.

Open the Bible is a listener-supported ministry, and as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a copy of John Stott's book called The Incomparable Christ. And Colin, who is this book for?

Colin Smith: Well, it's for anyone who wants to know the Lord Jesus Christ better. And it's written by one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th century. John Stott was a faithful preacher, a pastor, and a scholar for over 60 years. He's one of my heroes of the faith. I love to read his writing, and never more so than when he's writing on the most central subject of all, the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And this book, The Incomparable Christ, if you've never read a book by John Stott, this is a great place to start. It's a deep dive on who Jesus is and it comes in four parts. We see Jesus as he is presented in the New Testament, Jesus as he's been presented by the church over the centuries, Jesus as he's inspired various figures in history, and Jesus as he's presented to us in the Book of Revelation. It's just a glorious snapshot of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. And I think anyone who reads this book is going to feel that they come to a deeper worship of Jesus, a deeper love for Jesus, and a deeper trust in Jesus too.

Steve Hiller: Well, we want to send you a copy of this book as our way of saying thank you for your financial support this month. You can give online at openthebible.org or when you call 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365. Or our website again is openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening, and I hope you'll join us next time.

Open the Bible weekend is a listener-supported production of Open the Bible. At Open the Bible, we're grateful for like-minded organizations committed to sharing the gospel around the world. And to that end, I'd like to commend the work of Global Fingerprints.

In the book of James, God calls us to help orphans in their distress. That's a clear command, but it's not always clear how we should obey it. And this is where Global Fingerprints comes in. Through Global Fingerprints, you can sponsor a vulnerable child to help meet their physical needs and ensure they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to commend Global Fingerprints to you. They're focused on equipping the local church to care for children and where there is no church, they help to plant one. If you'd like to help a vulnerable child, you can find more information on Global Fingerprints at our website, openthebible.org/gf. That's openthebible.org/gf.