Beyond the Ten Commandments – New Testament

Review: The last few weeks we talked about: The Ten Commandments
1. You shall have no other gods before me. Joshua challenges the
people to chose, but for him and his household they would serve God.
2. Do not make idols in any form, nor shall you worship or sever
them. The Israelites made a golden calf to worship.
3. Do not misuse or dishonor the name of God. The seven son’s of
Sceva, the chief priest.
4. Keep one day of the week as a holy day to honor God. The
manna provided by God.
5. Honor your father and mother. Two stories: 1) the sons of the
prophet Samuel – an example of children who do not honor their
father; and 2) Joseph honors his father, Jacob, when he brought him to
Egypt and by honoring his father’s request to be buried in Canaan.
6. Do not murder. Two stories: 1) Cain murders his brother, Able; and 2)
Jesus takes the command not to murder and teaches his followers that
they are not to even hate someone.
7. Do not commit adultery. Two stories: 1) David and Bathsheba; and
2) Jesus takes the command not to commit adultery and teaches that
to look at a woman lustfully is the same as committing adultery with
her in ones heart.
8. Do not steal. Two stories: 1) The law and penalty for stealing cattle or
sheep; and 2) Paul’s teaching in Christian living.
9. Do not lie. Three stories: 1) instructions about what a person must do
if they profit from a lie; 2) the story of Ananias and Sapphira; and 3)
the devil is the father of all lies.
10.Do not covet other people or their things. King Ahab takes
Naboth’s vineyard.

Review:

Last week we examined other Old Testament commandments that God gave
in addition to the Ten Commandments. Let’s review by mentioning as many
as we can remember. Who will get us started?

Background:

The stories for today take us beyond the Ten Commandments. These stories
are all from the New Testament. That means they all occur during or after
the time Jesus was here on earth.

Today I am going to ask you to tell what the Bible says in your own words.
Each person should need less than five minutes to tell what the Bible says in
his or her assigned verse or verses. Remember that you are to tell it as
faithfully as we can to the story from the Bible. Do not add to it or leave out
anything important.

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Beyond the Ten Commandments
Read the Bible verse or verses and be prepared to tell the group, in your own
words, what it says (the story).

Matthew 5:13-16 – “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its
saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for
anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the
light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do
people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its
stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let
your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and
glorify your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:31-32 – “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must
give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who
divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of
adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits
adultery.”

Matthew 5:33-37 – Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long
ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have
made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for
it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by
Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your
head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need
to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil
one.”

Matthew 5:38-42 – “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth
for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps
you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if
anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as
well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give
to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who
wants to borrow from you.”

Matthew 5:43-47 – “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and
hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on
the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you,
what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than
others? Do not even pagans do that?”

Matthew 6:1-4 – “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of

others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from
your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not
announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and
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 on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have
received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let
your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving
may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you.

Matthew 6:16-18 – “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do,
for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell
you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil
on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to
others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and
your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Matthew 6:19-21 – “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin
do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:25-34 – “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what
you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life
more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of
the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than
they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field
grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in
all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God
clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is
thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little
faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we
drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these
things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek
first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its
own.”

Matthew 7:1-5 – “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same
way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you
use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of
sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your
own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out
of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You
hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will
see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Jesus uses a simple story at the end of his teachings on the mountainside
(the Sermon on the Mount).
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Matthew 7:24-27 – “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and
puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the
rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and
beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its
foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine
and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his
house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds
blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Other teachings of Jesus (note: There are many more teachings of
Jesus and these are examples and are not intended to be a complete
list):

• Matthew 12:1-14 – Jesus teaches about the Sabbath laws.

• Matthew 13:1-23 – the parable of the sower
• Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43 – the parable of the weeds
• Matthew 13:31-34 – the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast
• Matthew 18:21-35 – the parable of the unmerciful servant
• Matthew 19:1-12 – Jesus teaches about divorce
• Mark 7:1-23 – Jesus teaches about clean and unclean
• Mark 9:42-49 – Jesus teaches about causing someone else to sin

Questions:

The questions and discussion about the New Testament commandments

should be focused beyond the events that tell the story of how God gave
them and address the fact that they were given by God for his people to
follow. A foundation should be laid for obedience to all the commandments;
as Matthew 28:20 says, “… and teaching them to obey everything I [Jesus]
have commanded you.” It is important that the questions demonstrate that
the Ten Commandments are not intended to be an exhaustive list of
commandments.

Why did God give so many commandments?

What does this teach us about God?

What should we do in response to these teachings?

Memory verses

Let’s review the memory verses, Matthew 22:37-39

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and
greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.’

Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your strength.

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