The Ten Commandments Series

Smoke on the Mountain

Today we are witnessing a widespread deterioration of moral standards and cheapening of human life throughout the world. This message introduces the ancient Jewish moral code known as the Ten Commandments. In it, Rob Yule, Minister of St Albans, argues that a revival of morality today requires a fresh vision of God’s holiness, like that which originally produced the Ten Commandments.

 

1. God Comes First

The Ten Commandments are the fountainhead of Western civilisation. Yet, in today’s secularised, post-Christian society, the revolutionary significance of the Ten Commandments is seldom appreciated. This message, given by Rob Yule at St Alban’s Presbyterian Church, Palmerston North, New Zealand, on 9 August 1998, shows the surprising importance of the first commandment for religion, science, human rights and personal fulfilment.

 

2. Making the World Safe for Revelation

Idolatry is a surprisingly pervasive phenomenon, appearing in modern materialistic guises as well as ancient polytheistic ones. In this message, given at St Alban’s Presbyterian Church, Palmerston North, New Zealand on 30 August 1998, minister Rob Yule explains what idolatry is and examines the far-reaching significance of the Bible’s prohibition of making images.

 

3. Honouring God's Name

The third commandment, often assumed to refer to swearing and profanity by the irreligious, in fact emphasises the responsibility of believers to worthily represent the God whom they believe in.

 

4. Release from Slavery

The Sabbath commandment has often been misrepresented by a kill-joy attitude. In fact, its provision of a weekly respite from toil is a remarkable piece of humanitarian legislation, designed to enrich human life and liberate people from slavery to work.

 

5. Respect for Parents

The Bible’s relevance to life is very apparent in the fifth commandment. Illustrating the importance of leading by example, it shows that the way we treat our parents is how our children learn to treat us.

 

6. Reverence for Life

With some thirty civil wars currently occurring, and a burgeoning of violent crime, there is an appalling cheapening of human life throughout the world today. In this address, Rob Yule shows the humanitarian importance of the sixth commandment. He makes a fascinating case for Christian pacifism, for the role of the military in civil defence and international peacekeeping, and for the legal protection of the unborn child.

7. Safeguarding Marriage

Promiscuity and adultery, widely practised in our sexually liberated age, actually have a number of sad and unintended consequences. Rob's message on the seventh commandment gives four compelling reasons - economic, moral, medical and theological - for choosing marital faithfulness.

 

8. Practical Honesty

Society comes down hard on petty theft, but respectable white-collar crime flourishes, comprising big business globally today. In this sometimes humorous address on the commandment against stealing, Rob Yule brings out the challenging and liberating nature of the Bible’s teaching about wealth and money.

 

9. Nothing but the Truth

The purpose of the ninth commandment is not only to protect people from false accusation in a court of law, but to guard people’s repuation and foster truth-telling in every area of life. Intellectuals, sadly, are no better in this respect than anyone else, as illustrated by examples of academic reputations damaged by false witness.

 

10. Restraining Greed

The tenth commandment differs from all the others by its focus on inner attitudes rather than on outward actions. In this final message in his series on the Ten Commandments, Rob Yule sees covetousness not only as a symptom of our consumer culture, but of our need for a new heart.