HANDOUT FOR SERMON: YOUNG PEOPLE AND THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD. Good advice for God’s people and what can unify us. October 29th, 2023, 9:30 a.m. Manchester, TN
INTRODUCTION: God is very clear is His Word, He truly cares about all people of all ages. The Bible repeatedly reveals great things God has done for humanity in general and great things He has done for His people. He cares about those who are older and mature, for those considered middle aged and parents, and He cares about young adults and children. My lesson today will be geared to young adults, teenagers, and children.
God has always expected His people to be united. Our goal no matter what our age, is to be united in the faith. It would be wonderful if we all could agree on everything and every example in the Bible. It would be great to understand everything about God and the Bible in the same manner but since we are all on different levels of understanding and spiritual wisdom this is something we will always to working to achieve.
One area that we should all agree on, which should become the foundation for unity and in building stronger bonds to unite us, is if we all can agree that God’s COMMANDS MATTER! The commandments of God are truth, are important and are to be followed and kept!
God has always been interested in children and has acknowledged them in His word in many passages. Scripture: Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14, Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:21, Deuteronomy 5:29, Deuteronomy 6:6-7. God has always communicated with His people with words. I want each child, teenager, and young adult in this room to see that God is truly aware of you and that He cares for you. As you read the Bible and learn more about God’s expectations, sometimes it is hard to decide what is right and what is wrong, what is correct and what is sinful or what we can do and what we cannot do. How can we learn and know what we must do and what we must not do? God has the answer!
LESSON: 1. THE SACREDNESS OF GOD’S COMMANDMENTS. We serve a loving, caring and forgiving God. We serve a righteous, holy, and all-powerful God. We are described as “God’s children” or “God’s family.” God expects His family to get along. He expects us to be united. We are to be one family! Scripture: 1 John 3:1-2. Psalm 133:1, Proverbs 6:16-19, 1 Peter 3:8, 1 Corinthians 1:10, Ephesians 4:3
Unity and oneness sound great but it is difficult to achieve and difficult to maintain. We may not be able to agree on every little detail, every little example, every little principle mentioned in the Bible, however, surely we who love God can agree on the premise that God’ commandments must be kept!
Scripture: John 14:15, John 15:10, 1 Corinthians 7:19, 1 John 3:22, 1 John 5:2-3, Revelation 14:12. A central part of who we are is that we are people who keep HIS COMMANDMENTS!
2.WHAT ARE THE ACTUAL COMMANDMENTS OF GOD? How do we determine what they are? How do we know how many there are? How can we figure out which ones we should keep?
Consider the Gospel of Matthew and the topic of God’s commandments. How many commandments can you find in the book of Matthew? Simply read the text and write down every command you come across. To illustrate: In reading Matthew chapter 4 we learn the command to “repent.” In reading Matthew chapter 5 we are commanded to be “light and salt” so we are to shine, we also learn we are to love our enemies, We are to put God first in our lives and we are to honor our parents (just to mention a few of the many commandments in Matthew). For our study today, let us look at a few “do not” commandments in the book of Matthew.
- Do not LUST. Matthew 5:28
- Do not WORRY. Matthew 6:25,31,34
- Do not JUDGE. Matthew 7:1
- Do not DESPISE. Matthew 18:7,10
- 3.A CLOSER LOOK AT PROVERBS AND GOD’S COMMANDMENTS TO THE YOUNG.
Proverbs 1:1-6 Proverbs are a simple way of expressing well-known truths which are based on God’s teachings, common sense, and experience. Proverbs are to be passed down from generation to generation. The sentiment of the book of Proverbs makes me think of 2 Timoty 3:16 where we learn to Gods word corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God is teaching us principles that will bring us peace and contentment, chides us for the things we have done in sin and shows us how to correct our way of life.
Proverbs 22:22-24:29 Take note of the 22 “do not’s” listed in this section of scripture.
The Do Not’s we must listen to!
- Do not look on the wine when it is red. Proverbs 23:31
- Do not be with heavy drinkers or gluttonous eaters. Proverbs 23:20
- Do not associate with a man given to anger, Proverbs 22:24-25
- Do not associate with those given to change, Proverbs 24:41
- Do not desire his delicacies nor envy sinners. Proverbs 23:1-6, 17, 24:1
- Do not despise your mother/father. Proverbs 23:22-28
I want to advise you, young people here today, to consider the circles of your friends or associates. With whom do you spend much time with? Our inner and our outer circles are very important. Those you hang out with WILL INFLUENCE you.
1 Corinthians 15:33 So stop fooling yourselves! Evil companions will corrupt good morals and character. Other scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:14, Matthew 5:30, 1 Corinthains 5:11, Proverbs 13:20, Proverbs 14:7, Proverbs 25:26, Psalm 1:1, Psalm 119:115, Psalm 26:4-5
May we always: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways submit to Him (God) and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5
