Series
Rev. Jerry Hamstra
The Book of Esther
The Book of Esther
Sermons
Rev. Jerry Hamstra
Introduction to Acts
Introduction to Acts

Respect

The Fifth Commandment (8) Authority and the State

“As we have been seeing in our studies of the Fifth Commandment, we are to submit to those whom God has placed in authority over us and that doing so is for our good – it is the way of life and blessing. But as we have also seen along the way is that that is sometimes problematic because authority is often misused and abused because all authority figures are sinners and many of them are not saved. There is an awful lot of suffering in the world because of the abuse of authority.”
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

The Third Commandment: Reverence for the Name of God

“And so, the third commandment, which requires that we only use God’s name with deep reverence and that every thought of God be a thought of worship and adoration, is rooted in what is truly and objectively the most important value in the world. This is why the world exists. This is why we exist. This is what we are for. Nothing exists for any other reason. And that means that dishonoring God is the essence of evil. The greatest possible evil that we can do is to dishonor God. And every other form of evil is the result of dishonoring God. This is not arbitrary. This is the nature of things. This is the nature of reality because reality is rooted in God himself who is ultimate reality.”
— Rev. Jerry Hamstra