Edna Lister on the Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments: Signs Along the Way

Edna Lister outline, May 3, 1935, Buffalo, New York, Exodus 20:3-17, Ephesians 6:1-4, 6

  “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.”–Exodus 20:3-17.
  1. You shall have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.
  2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image…you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.
  3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. To take the name in vain is blasphemy, the unforgivable sin.
  4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
  5. Honor your father and your mother.
  “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord...Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”–Ephesians 6:1-4, 6.
  6. You shall not murder, which includes others’ faith in themselves, in God, in love, in hope; do not encourage hopelessness or discouragement.
  7. You shall not commit adultery.
  8. You shall not steal time or others’ belongings, such as faith, or reputation.
  9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, which includes lies, deceit, misinterpretations of truth, and so on.
  10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.
  These laws are sign posts on the Way. As you travel peacefully through the garden of life, clothed in the simple white of your spiritual baptism, you are thankful for the light of day, your Christian training, and the soothing shadows of night, your eternal understanding.
  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”–John 3:16. Your love of God the Father, who gave His Only Begotten son that whosoever believe on him shall have life everlasting, when unalloyed by lesser loves, is God’s love.

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