Notice the first thing about them is that they are a series of principles. God does not break them down to A, B, C, E, and then point, 1, 2, 3, 4. He just gives ten commandments and their principles, and you can follow them throughout the Bible. God is specific with His principles. He lets the Holy Spirit lead us into fulfillment of these principles.

You will notice secondly that they are guidelines about two basic things of life. Reverence for God are the first four, respect for our fellow man are the next six. They are guidelines to how we can reverence God and respect our fellow man -- that's basic to living, isn't it?

Third, you will notice that they are basic for common existence, so that life can go on in all nations. All nations pattern their rules and their society after the Ten Commandments. Wherever the Ten Commandments are not sought after to be protected by man, and the law is not set after these ten commandments, you will find chaos in that society, and it will not long endure. It is a basic for the common existence of the whole human race. It has never been improved on and it never will.

You will notice the fourth thing about them, and that is that they are unique in the sense that they are the only recorded words written directly by God. He wrote them with His finger on stone tablets, they were placed in the Ark of the Covenant, the children of Israel carried them wherever they went, along with Aaron's budding rod and the pot of manna. They were put in the Ark of the Covenant and kept as the uniqueness of God. It was the only thing that He ever wrote personally, though He wrote through men; it was the only thing that He put His finger on, and said, "This is from Me to you."

Fifth, you will see that they are based on love. He had delivered His people from bondage and slavery. He didn't bring them to this promised land to punish them. He brought them out, and said, "Out of My love for you, and out of My desire for you to live abundantly in the promised land, with love, I give you these commandments."

Notice the sixth thing about them is that they have a unique number of ten. What is unique about it? The number ten in the Bible is symbolic of completeness. There didn't need to be anymore. When Jesus was asked "What is the greatest commandment?" He just went right back and summed up those ten commandments. They haven't been improved on. They are complete -- you can't add anymore.

The seventh thing about them is that they do not enforce themselves. They are there. You can read them now as you have read them many times. I memorized them when I was young. Everyone of them is still there, but they don't enforce themselves. Who enforces them? The Law-giver. The One who gave the law, enforces the law. God made certain laws and He says that if you abide by them you will be blessed; if you break them, you will be crushed. And if we defy any of these, God will break us. It is just as plain as that.

I hope we're not as stupid as the man that said that he didn't believe that the law of gravity works. So he climbed up to the top of a fifty-story building. He was going to fly. He jumped off, and at the twenty-fifth floor somebody yelled out the window and said "How are you doing?" and he said "So far, so good!" Well, there are a lot of folks who say "Well, I broke that one, and that one, and God hasn't done anything to me yet!" "So far, so good" But he's got twenty-five more stories, and that's the end of it, you see. No, they break us, we don't break them.