The Ten Commandments: God's Perfect Law of Liberty - Updated
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About this ebook
As I listened to this series of messages at Livingstone Fellowship, I kept thinking how practical, down to earth and relevant these eternal truths are for us today. Each Sunday, after the message, I thanked the LORD for how He spoke to my heart through His Word and longed that Dr. Hammond might have a wider audience. I rejoice now to see the entire series in this one book.
The Ten Commandments are God’s meterstick by which He measures us and whereby we realize how far short we have fallen of His glory. It is God’s “plumb line” to measure our moral straightness. As our young people would say, “The Ten Commandments are God’s ‘text message’ to keep us in line.”
In today’s man-centered culture, God (when He is considered at all) has become our “Buddy;” an eternal “Blessing Machine,” to be called on whenever we’re in trouble or need a Friend. “One who turns away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer is an abomination.” Proverbs 28:9
The candour of the author in sharing his testimony of when and where he has failed to obey and how the Lord dealt with him is richly refreshing. It is also very reassuring to know that our Heavenly Father is in the business of restoration. This book will give you an expanded appreciation of His grace and of the awful price He paid for our sins as we, who are truly guilty, have broken most, if not all, of the Ten Commandments.
Rev. Bill Bathman
Chairman of the Board, Frontline Fellowship (2002 - 2016)
Founder of NETWORK, PIONEERS and ITMI
Never before in Church history has there been such a need to return to the basics of Biblical Evangelism. Our churches are filled with false converts, simply because we have abandoned doing what Jesus did when it comes to reaching out to the lost. The disease must be diagnosed before the cure is offered to the patient, or it will, understandably, never be appreciated or appropriated.
I thank God for my friend Peter Hammond, and pray that God’s blessing will be on his book, The Ten Commandments - God’s Perfect Law of Liberty.
Ray Comfort
The Way of the Master
To those who would argue that God does not exist, read this book and each page will reveal that God not only exists, but He knows you better than you do.
Can a single book change a person and an entire nation? This one can!!
Todd Friel
Wretched Radio and TV
Dr. Peter Hammond
Dr. Peter [email protected]. O. Box 74 Newlands 7725 Cape Town South AfricaTel: 021-689-4480Academic:Baptist Theological College, Cape Town - Christian Missions Diploma (Cum Laude), 27 November 1984 (Baptist Theological College is now: Baptist Theological Seminary)Whitefield Theological Seminary, Lakeland, Florida, USA, Graduate School of Theology - Doctorate of Missiology in the Field of Applied Missions, 16 October 1998Antioch Bible College Institute and Seminary, Cartersville, Georgia, USA – Doctorate of Divinity, 22 May 2004Accomplishments:Founder and Director of Frontline Fellowship since 1982Founder and Director of Africa Christian Action since 1991Founder and Convenor of the Biblical Worldview Summit since 1991Founder and Chairman of Christian Liberty Books since 1995Founder and Convenor of Great Commission Camps and Courses since 1998Founder of Literature4Africa in 2003Founder and Chairman of The Reformation Society since 2005Founder and Chairman of Livingstone Fellowship since 2006Founder and Principal of William Carey Bible Institute since 2007Founder and Principal of the Henry Morton Stanley School of Christian Journalism since 2018.Author of:Answering Skeptics (also translated into Afrikaans)Frontline: Behind Enemy Lines for ChristBiblical Principles For Africa (also translated into Afrikaans and French)Biblical Worldview ManualChaplains HandbookCharacter Assassins - Dealing with Ecclesiastical Tyrants and TerroristsChristian History of Africa ManualChurch History ManualThe Discipleship HandbookDiscipleship Training ManualFaith Under Fire In Sudan (first published in 1996, expanded edition 1998 and third edition 2010)Holocaust In Rwanda (also translated in to French)In the Killing Fields of MozambiqueMake a Difference - A Christian Action Handbook For Southern Africa (co-authored with Miriam Cain and Philip Stott)New Testament Survey - Exploring the Central Messages of Every Book of the BibleOld Testament Survey – Exploring the Central Messages of Every Book of the BiblePower of Prayer HandbookPractical Discipleship (also translated into Afrikaans)Putting Feet To Your FaithReforming Our Families (co-authored with wife, Lenora Hammond)Security and Survival HandbookSketches from South African HistorySlavery, Terrorism and Islam - The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat (three editions)South Africa - Renaissance or Reformation?The Christian at War (also translated into Afrikaans, German and Spanish)The Great Commission Handbook (formally The Great Commission Manual in 9 editions)The Rise of the GayGB and the Pink Inquisition (co-authored with Christine McCafferty and Taryn Lourens)The Ten Commandments –God's Perfect Law of Liberty (also translated into Afrikaans) in two editionsVictorious Christians – Who Changed the World (also translated into Afrikaans)Editor of Frontline Fellowship News since 1982.Editor of Christian Action magazine since 1992.Contributing Editor of JOY! Magazine from 2006-2016Producer of weekly radio program Salt and Light on Radio Tygerberg from 1995-2016Editor of Gospel Defence League since 2016Weekly presenter of Christian Perspective on the News on Radio Cape Pulpit since 2018Initiator and Convenor of the 1995 and 1996 Christian Voice marches to Parliament.Initiator of the Calvin500 movement and conference in Geneva, Switzerland July 2009Initiator and Convenor of the Livingstone200 in 2013Initiator and Convenor of the Reformation500 culminating in Wittenberg, Germany, October 2017Initiator and Convenor of the ZwingliReformation500 culminating in 2019Chairman of Flame Lily Foundation – Cape of Good Hope since 2018.Chairman of the Cape Independence Forum since 2019.Missionary to Mozambique and Angola in the 1980s, to Zambia, Rwanda and Sudan in the 1990s.Initiator of the Boxes with Love and Bibles and Bikes Projects for evangelists. Have conducted over 18,000 meetings, church services, lectures, seminars, workshops, conferences, Bible studies and outreaches across 38 countries since conversion and call to Missions in 1977.Courses completed include: Evangelism Explosion 3, Cross Cultural Communication, Way of the Master, Muslim Evangelism and Child Evangelism. Received missionary training and worked in Scripture Union and Hospital Christian Fellowship.
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The Ten Commandments - Dr. Peter Hammond
The Ten Commandments
- God’s Perfect Law of Liberty
Peter Hammond
Copyright © 2017 by Peter Hammond.
Published by Frontline Fellowship Publishing at Smashwords
First published in 2009
Revised Edition 2017
Permission is hereby granted to any church, mission,
magazine or periodical to reprint, or quote from,
any portion of this publication - on condition that
the passage is quoted in context and that due acknowledgement of source be given.
Please also mail a copy of any article to: Livingstone Fellowship
P.O. Box 74, Newlands, 7725 Cape Town, South Africa
Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version
© copyright by Thomas Nelson Used with permission.
Typesetting and DTP: Colin Newman
Cover Design: Daniela Hammond
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my youngest son,
Calvin Peter Hammond,
who has demonstrated extraordinary initiative
in using God’s Law in Evangelism.
By age five Calvin was presenting Evangelism Explosion
Gospel presentations to large audiences.
From age seven Calvin proved to be an invaluable
member of numerous Frontline mission teams,
engaging in Evangelism
as far afield as Zululand and Zambia.
From age eight Calvin was training school assemblies
in Way of the Master Evangelism,
using the Ten Commandments
"as the schoolmaster to lead us to Christ."
May God continue to bless, guide, protect
and use you for the extension of His Kingdom.
Appreciation
A heartfelt Thank You to Colin Newman, our hard working Mission Manager for all the Desk Top Publishing, typesetting and shaping of this book; and to Marion Newman for typing up all these sermons in the first place. Also to my Daughter Daniela Hammond for the graphic design of the cover and most of the posters at the back of the book. My son, Christopher Hammond for compiling
The Ten Commandments Audio MP3 and Data boxset.
Thank you also to Lenora, Margaret Stephens
and Penney May for careful
proof reading of the book.
The Ten Commandments
- God’s Perfect Law of Liberty
by Peter Hammond
Table of Contents
Forewords by Rev. Bill Bathman, Ray Comfort and Todd Friel
Introduction - The LAW of GOD
Chapter 1: The First Commandment - PUTTING GOD FIRST
Chapter 2: The Second Commandment - IDOLS FOR DESTRUCTION
Chapter 3: The Third Commandment - HONOUR THE LORD’S NAME
Chapter 4: The Fourth Commandment - HONOUR THE LORD’S DAY
Chapter 5: The Fifth Commandment - HONOUR YOUR PARENTS
Chapter 6: The Sixth Commandment - YOU SHALL NOT MURDER
Chapter 7: The Seventh Commandment - YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY
Chapter 8: The Eighth Commandment - YOU SHALL NOT STEAL
Chapter 9: The Ninth Commandment - YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS
Chapter 10: The Tenth Commandment - DO NOT COVET
Chapter 11: The LAW of GOD and The GOSPEL of CHRIST
Bibliography
Other Resources Available
About the Author
"But he who looks into
the perfect Law of Liberty
and continues in it
and is not a forgetful hearer
but a doer of the work,
this one will be blessed
in what he does." James 1:25
Forewords
As I listened to this series of messages at Livingstone Fellowship, I kept thinking how practical, down to earth and relevant these eternal truths are for us today. Each Sunday, after the message, I thanked the LORD for how He spoke to my heart through His Word and longed that Dr. Hammond might have a wider audience. I rejoice now to see the entire series in this one book.
The Ten Commandments are God’s meterstick by which He measures us and whereby we realize how far short we have fallen of His glory. It is God’s plumb line
to measure our moral straightness. As our young people would say, The Ten Commandments are God’s ‘text message’ to keep us in line.
In today’s man-centered culture, God (when He is considered at all) has become our Buddy;
an eternal Blessing Machine,
to be called on whenever we’re in trouble or need a Friend. One who turns away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer is an abomination.
Proverbs 28:9
Many today worship before the idolatrous altar of pluralism, multiculturalism and the inter-faith movement. These false gods are skilfully exposed in this hard-hitting, practical and easy-to-read volume. These gods must go.
The new thoughts and inspiration from the Fifth Commandment were a special blessing to me. You’ll find a whole treasure-trove of them yourself between the covers of this modest tome.
The Eighth Commandment brilliantly exposes Muhammad’s support of theft. Jihad is one of the most meritorious acts in the eyes of Islam and it is the best source of earnings.
(Mishkat II, Page 340). Muhammad saw theft as a win-win situation. If you won the battle you got the booty. If you lost the battle you got paradise and all those virgins. Muhammad: desert bandit, robber, thief, murderer and paedophile, was a breaker of all Ten Commandments. These are undisputed, well-documented attributes of the founder of the world’s second largest religion as measured by God’s Laws.
Most everyone has heard of and many have read, the Ten Commandments in the Bible. Having read them many times, I thought I knew just about everything God’s Law requires of believers. This book brings each Commandment to life and makes them relevant to our contemporary culture. Each chapter is a wellspring of delightful surprises with useful information, spiritual inspiration and Christian challenge.
There are some who say, Oh the Ten Commandments were just for Old Testament times, they’re not applicable to us today.
This book is written from God’s perspective and has some eye-opening responses to that assertion. Jesus said, Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil.
Matthew 5:17
The candour of the author in sharing his testimony of when and where he has failed to obey and how the Lord dealt with him is richly refreshing. It is also very reassuring to know that our Heavenly Father is in the business of restoration. This book will give you an expanded appreciation of His grace and of the awful price He paid for our sins as we, who are truly guilty, have broken most, if not all, of the Ten Commandments.
Rev. Bill Bathman
Chairman of the Board, Frontline Fellowship (2002 - 2016)
Founder of NETWORK, PIONEERS and ITMI
Never before in Church history has there been such a need to return to the basics of Biblical Evangelism. Our churches are filled with false converts, simply because we have abandoned doing what Jesus did when it comes to reaching out to the lost. The disease must be diagnosed before the cure is offered to the patient, or it will, understandably, never be appreciated or appropriated.
I thank God for my friend Peter Hammond, and pray that God’s blessing will be on his book, The Ten Commandments - God’s Perfect Law of Liberty.
Ray Comfort
The Way of the Master
To those who would argue that God does not exist, read this book and each page will reveal that God not only exists, but He knows you better than you do.
Can a single book change a person and an entire nation? This one can!!
Todd Friel
Wretched Radio and TV
Back to the Top
Introduction
The LAW of GOD
"Therefore the Law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good." Romans 7:12
God spoke the Ten Commandments with His own voice. He wrote them with His own finger upon tablets of stone. It was after the Lord God had delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt. They had seen the incredible power of God poured out in the Ten Plagues upon Egypt. They had watched in awe as God rolled back the waters of the Red Sea to allow them to cross through on dry land. On the other side of the Red Sea they had seen the Lord close the waters over the pursuing Egyptian charioteers.
They had tasted the manna that God had sent from Heaven to feed them in the desert. They had quenched their thirst with water that had flowed from the rock at His command. They had seen the mighty power of God to save and to heal. They had also seen His power to punish, to judge, to kill and to destroy.
Now, as they stood before the mountain of God, it was covered with smoke as the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace and the whole mountain trembled violently.
This was the context in which God revealed His Ten Commandments.
The Law’s remarkable origin reveals its Holy character. The Ten Commandments flow directly from the Eternal character of our Holy Creator and Eternal Judge. They are the standard by which the world will be judged. The Ten Commandments provide a permanent rule of life for all people. The Law defines sin (…sin is lawlessness.
1 John 3:4).
Converting the Soul
"The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Psalm 19:7
The Law of God convicts of sin (Romans 7:7-11). The Law condemns transgression (Romans 4:15; James 2:10; Galatians 3:10; Deuteronomy 11:26-28). But he who looks into the perfect Law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:25
The Law restrains evil (But we know that the Law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the Law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and for murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.
1 Timothy 1:8-11; Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
Psalm 119:11).
The Law brings people to Christ. (Therefore the Law was our Tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by Faith.
Galatians 3:24; The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.
Psalm 19:7).
The Law of God guides our sanctification. (That the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:4).
A New Covenant - with Renewed Minds and Regenerate Hearts
The Law of God lies at the very heart of the new Covenant. (Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new Covenant with the House of Israel…I will put My Law in their minds and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be My people.
Jeremiah 31:31-33).
The Law of God Remains in Force
Our Lord Jesus Christ expressly affirmed the eternal validity of God’s Law. (Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil. For assuredly, I say to you, till Heaven and Earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law until all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these Commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the pharisees, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 5:17-20)
Throughout the Gospels, Christ emphatically taught the relevance of the Law (Matthew 22:36-40; Matthew 23:23; Mark 7:1-13). Christ Jesus upheld the civil function of the Law to restrain evil (Matthew 15:3-6). Christ Himself perfectly obeyed the Law during His life and ministry on earth (Psalm 40:7-8; Matthew 8:4; 17:24-27; Mark 11:16-17; John 8:46; John 15:10; 1 John 2:4-6).
Christ Jesus saved us in terms of the Law. (But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive adoption as sons.
Galatians 4:4-5; And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the Cross.
Colossians 2:13-14.)
While the Ten Commandments are binding on all mankind, they are especially relevant to Christians. They reflect the character of God and keep their full authority today. You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am Holy.
Leviticus 19:2.
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Our First Priority
When pioneer missionary, John Eliot, first translated the Scriptures into the Algonquin language of the Indians in Massachusetts he started with the Ten Commandments. His first sermons to them were also on the Ten Commandments. Of course, John Eliot did not think that the Indians could be saved by the Ten Commandments. However they needed to understand the Law of God before they could understand their need of salvation in Christ.
In the same way, John Paton, missionary to the cannibals in the South Pacific, began his ministry by teaching the Ten Commandments. The sharp needle of the Law needs to make way for the scarlet thread of the Gospel. Until people understand the Law of God they will not be able to understand the holiness of God. Until people understand the holiness of God, they will not understand their own sinfulness and their need for Salvation in and through Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour.
The Fruit of Faith
Also, whereas Justification by Faith deals with how sin is pardoned, sanctification deals with how sin is subdued in our lives. Robert Murray M’Cheyne explained: It is a holy-making Gospel. Without holy fruits all evidences are vain. Dear Friends, you have awakenings, enlightenings, experiences and many due signs; but if you lack holiness, you shall never see the Lord. A real desire after complete holiness is the truest mark of being born again … unregenerate men cannot bear this testimony.
Regeneration and Repentance
Teaching and preaching the Ten Commandments helps put Repentance back into the Evangelistic message. Many self - deceived church members give no Biblical evidence of being born again by the Holy Spirit – despite having responded to evangelistic appeals, walked the aisles, signed decision cards, prayed sinners prayers, gone through the waters of Baptism, had their names entered on church memberships rolls and having attended numerous church activities.
Justification and Sanctification
Teaching on the Ten Commandments should help demolish the theory that one may receive Jesus as one’s personal Saviour,
without submitting to Him as Lord. The notion that obedience to the commands of Christ are an optional extra for any true Christian will be exposed for the falsehood that it is by any exposition of the Scriptures. The cleansing of our sins by the Blood of Christ and the working of God’s Holy Spirit in our hearts here on earth, are inseparably joined