This summer I am calling Bethel Baptist Church to a fresh, and Biblical awareness of the Ten Commandments from Exodus chapter 20, if you'll please open your Bibles and turn to that passage. There is a movement afoot in our land to restore the Ten Commandments to their place of honor. I do not have high hopes for the success of this, but there are people in high places who are trying to promote legislation and so forth to repost the Ten Commandments where they have been taken down in the past, and I am glad to see such an initiative. But I fear that most people in our culture have a very low view of the law of God, the Ten Commandments. (also the Bible in general, and main-stream Christianity, in particular, ed.)
For example, a cartoon in a Hong Kong newspaper showed Moses, who had just come down from the mount, he had two tablets in his hands, and he's reporting to the children of Isreal, and saying, "It was hard bargaining, but here's the bottom line, we get the milk and honey, but the anti-adultery clause stays in!" Well, it's not to funny, is it? But most people have, what I think, a jaded, corrupt, and a low view of the law. I want to make sure that we believers have the right estimate, and the right view of these amazing, Ten Commandments.
I introduced this series of messages last sunday, stressing these main points; one, the Ten Commandments are absolutely unique in the Bible. There's nothing in all the scripture like them. God did not use the instrumentality of prophets and apostles to give us these Ten Commandments. He, with His own finger, wrote upon those tablets of stone, and hand delivered them to Moses there on Mount Sinai. Again there's nothing like these Ten Commandments anywhere in the world. The second main point I stressed last week as a way of introduction this series of messages was that the Ten Commandments serve to prove our sinfulness. They do not in any way save us, or keep us saved, in keeping them. (uh, read that again, ed.) But grace of course does NOT set aside ethical requirement either. Salvation is by grace, through faith. It is only by grace, and faith that a person is saved, but Christians, of all people, should rally to live according to these laws that God has established for all humankind. The third main point was that these Commandments reach the heart. It is not merely something that we are to do outwardly, but it is something to be apart of us. These laws are to get down into our inward parts. They should affect our inward affections, as well our external actions. More is intended in these laws than is actually spoken. These laws are multi-dimensional, they are deep, and we must not be simplistic in our thinking about these laws. Where a duty is commanded, the contrary sin though not mentioned, is forbidden. Think deeply, think thoroughly through these Ten Commandments, study them carefully.
The forth point I made was that these commandments extend even to those with an indirect association with a sin. For example, those who are an accessory to a sin, are in violation to the commandment even though they may not have actually participated in the sin. I gave the example last week of David. The scripture says that the prophet came to him and said that God says, "YOU took the sword, and murdered Uriah". He did not actually take the sword, but he was in association with it. He was an accessory to that crime.
Those who consent to the sin of another, as Saul did to the stoning of Stephen, was guilty of breaking the commandment. And also those that are able to stop sin in the life of another, those who have the responsibility to stop sin, and choose not to for whatever reason, they too are guilty of the sin. I say let us not be simpletons concerning these Ten Commandments, but to study them very ernestly.
Along with these main points last week, I also introduced the preface to the Ten Commandments found in verse two, can we look at it again?
"I am the Lord thy God which have brough thee out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage." (Exodus 20:2)
God is saying this;
"On the basis of who I am, I am the Lord thy God. On the basis of who I am, and what I have done for you, I've brought you out of the bondage of the house of Egypt. Because of WHO I am, and WHAT I have done, therefore here is what YOU are to do for Me; you are to order your life after these laws. I have done for you, and I would like you to do this for Me."
I will have you note, in case you haven't already, that God's law was given for His already
ransomed people. They had ALREADY been delivered, they had already come out from Egypt, they had already been delivered out of the house of bondage, and THEN He gave His law.
God did not set in motion a code of laws for the children of Israel WHILE they were STILL in bondage, promising them that if they would obey the law He would deliver them. That's not how God works. God delivers His people, and then He sets up certain expectations for them. God NEVER said, "If you obey these Ten Commandments, then I'll deliver you." NO! He delivered them, and THEN He gave His law. This is one of the reasons why we say that the very BASIS of the giving of the law was the love of God. A parent does that, a parent that loves his child will set up certain restrictions, and will set up certain rules for that child to follow. You know, when we were growing up, we looked at the kids around us who didn't have maybe a strict upbringing, didn't have the rules, seemed to be able to roam and run freely, and we thought that looked good. But our parents loved us, and so they set up certain parameters.
God gave us the law because He loves us, He is interested in our wellbeing. All of God's laws are rooted in love. He delivered them, because He loved them. And then He commanded them. Christians, above all people, should rally to these Ten Commandments, to live in accordance to them, to honor God, by following them. Every requirement of the Bible is rooted in relationship. God had this relationship with His people BEFORE He gave the law.
Do not think for one moment that by keeping the law that you commend yourself to God. That is NOT what the scripture teaches. So after God delivers His people from the bondage of their sin, He EXPECTS them to OBEY His precepts. If you think about it, there is really nothing unreasonable about that. These ten laws are generally for all people, but specifically we as God-fearing people, as believers in the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, WE should be followers of the law, and keepers of the law.
For as we said in verse one, "God has spoken". We looked at the preface last week, "God has spoken". He spoke all these words. And when God has spoken, there's really nothing else to say. When God speaks, we should obey. God has spoken these laws, and it's settled whether a person believes it or not, whether a person obeys it or not. Did you know that your opinion of God's word will NOT change God's word one bit. Not one iota. We cannot influence the word of God, but the word of God CAN influence you. We change our lives to conform to God's law, we don't change and twist God's law to conform to our lifestyle. These laws were written for OUR wellbeing, and for OUR good. So that we would have an example to follow.
As I mentioned in the message last week, these laws were given also as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, to direct us to the only hope that we have for salvation, and that is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the salvation that He provides.
So today we come to the very First Commandment, it's here in verse three;
"Thou shalt have NO OTHER GODS before me." (Exodus 20:3)
It would be difficult to establish that these laws are in a decending order of importance. But I think that most of us, if we were to study this list, would say that if there is one law that is above all the other laws in this group of ten, it would be this first one. It is of fundamental importance. Jesus himself refered to it as the first and great commandment; "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." (Matthew 22:37) (this is directly from the SHEMA in Deuteronomy 6:5, ed.)
This first commandment, this law that He sets down, forbids us to have any other Gods than He who calls Himself "Jehovah-Elohim" - The Lord Thy God. I think that you would agree with me, that since it is true, that since He is Jehovah God, He is the Self-Sufficient One, He isn't the covenant making God because these things are true, then it is not unreasonable for us to follow this first commandment. And not to have any other gods. In fact, if God is who He says He is, it would be unreasonable for a man to have any other gods, but Him.
I think the point of all this, is that man needs a God. Man must have a God. Every man needs a God. Indeed, every man must HAVE a God. In our day it seems that men have MANY gods. Does it not? There's hardly a man anywhere who has not, somewhere in his heart, somewhere in his life, in the very essence of his being, raised a shrine within him where resides a deity whom he worships. I would suggest that everyone seated here, everyone hearing this message (that's you too, ed.), has a god. Perhaps more than a god. But it's true. A center of worship is a necessity for our existence. It's impossible for a man to live without having an object of worship. This is why in every age, and in every locale, and every time and place, people have worshipped. It's something that we must do, it is within us to worship. Someone has said, "All of life is worship." Whatever we ascribe worth to, that's a form of worship.
And so the question really is, is whether the life and power of a man are devoted to the worship of the ONE TRUE GOD. Or whether that life is devoted to a multitude of 'gods', small case, g-o-d-s.
This first law is a command to worship God EXCLUSIVELY. Only Him. Because God has absolute right to first place in everything, He is to be worshipped exclusively. That's fair. That may seem like an easy order at the beginning, but I think that as we try to fully understand the import of this first commandment i think you will find that this commandment, is perhaps, by far the most difficult of the ten to really be in conformity to. In our heart of hearts, as we study these ten you will find the first, in all actuality, to be the most challenging.
Putting something else, or putting someone else in the place of God is really not a hard thing to do, is it? It's possible that a loved one, a family member, a friend, can actually come before, God. This is the challenge of this verse. I say that putting something, or putting someone else in the place of God is not a hard thing to do, and giving God His rightful place in the life, is not always an EASY thing to do. But anything, or anyone that comes between you and your God, or comes before your God, according to the scriptures IS AN IDOL (very key point, ed.), and MUST be cast out. To trust in anything, or to trust in anyone, MORE than God is to make that thing a god. The first commandment, I think, has never been any more relevant than it is in our own day and time.
No deity, whether real or imagined, is to rival the ONE TRUE GOD. You see, the scripture teaches us that our God is a JEALOUS God. He's jealous. He knows your inward thoughts. He knows your life. He knows the gods you've established in your life. He knows these things, and He's a jealous God. A wife cannot lawfully have two husbands at once. Nor may we really have two gods, though many believers, many Christians I fear, try to juggle two gods.
The Lord, throughout scripture, interprets this sin of espousing any other god, as a FORSAKING
of Him. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot serve the TRUE and LIVING GOD, and serve another god in your life. IT CANNOT BE DONE. For example, the Lord Jesus Christ said:
"No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other;
or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
(Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13)
... thou many try. Thou many expend great effort to do so, and thou many are self-decieved and convinced that they have accomplished just that, the Bible says IT CANNOT BE DONE. Our God looks upon this unfaithfulness as tantamount as breaking the marriage covenant. To go after other gods, is something that our God will not tolerate. (and we argue about tolerance! ed.)
Keep your hand here in Exodus 20, but would you turn back to the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 13. And I think that this passage gives us an insight into God's view of this thing of having other gods. There are other passages that we might have turned to, but this is just a sampling here beginning in Deuteronomy 13:6. This is the viewpoint of God upon having other gods;
"If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; Thou shalt NOT consent unto him, NOR hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye PITY him, neither shalt thou SPARE, neither shalt thou conceal him:
BUT THOU SHALT SURELY KILL HIM;
thine hand shall be FIRST upon him TO PUT HIM TO DEATH, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt STONE him with stones, that he DIE;
BECAUSE HE HATH SOUGHT TO THRUST THEE AWAY
FROM THE LORD THY GOD,
which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you."
(Deuteronomy 13:6-11)
God does not take lightly this matter of having other gods. You know, Israel often disobeyed this first commandment. As you read through your Old Testament you'll find that time, after time, after time, they went out after other gods, they set up false gods, they set up their images, and their "groves in high places". And they would come in and out of serving God, and then serving false gods, and serving the gods of their neighbors. Over, and over, again. Throughout the Old Testament. Eventually, this resulted in her being overtaken, and going into captivity, being exiled to Syria and Babylon. A verse that is a synopsis, I think, of the entire Old Testament is found in Judges 2:12, where we read:
"... they forsook the LORD... and followed other gods... "
(Judges 2:12)
How many other gods have you and I followed after? Remember, I am challenging you to think deeply about these Ten Commandments. I'm not talking about setting up some sort of a statue, in your home, and getting down on your knees and praying to it, that's the Second Commandment, we're getting there. This is a different commandment, this is talking about having other gods in your life. A person who will knell down before a statue has already established there is one god, and they put that one god in front of them. This is talking about having MANY gods, in the life.
How much better are we than Old Testament Israel? Before answering that, let's quickly consider some of the gods which Israel followed, gods which are mentioned in the scriptures. Molech, Baal, Mammon in the New Testament. These were some of the gods of the heathen, that are referred to in the scripture. And they are the SAME gods that are being worshipped in mass today, by millions of people. To this very hour, people are worshipping these same gods. They may go by different names, in this so called highly cultured, and enlightened 20th century. Baalism, Molech, Mammon, are still very much alive and active in our midst. The world is crowded with idolaters who worship these. And you need not go across the oceans to see these philosophies, and these idolatrous ways, for they are in our very midst. Some, I fear, have even crept into the church. (that's right, ed.)
For example, Molech; Molech was the name of a pagan deity to whom human sacrifices were offered. Many of those human sacrifices, unbelieveably, were children. And in times of great apostasy, sometimes Israel would participate, and would "pass through the fire of Molech". This is a common Old Testament expression. Scholars believe that these ovens would be built; they were bronze, they were large, they were hollow statues, shaped like a human being, but they had the head of an ox and in the mouth they would have a great gaping hole and that's where they would place the child. And underneath, there would be a fire begun, and as the screams of that child were heard, they would begin beating drums to drowned out the sound of that child. I don't have to tell you, that this philosophy, of the exploitation and expendability of human life is still going strong today, is it not?
Baalism is so pervasive in our society that it's difficult to escape it. In fact, one has to on purpose, work hard to avoid the impact of Baalism. Baal was the supreme god of the Canaanites. The god of fertility. And both its worship, and its lifestyle, espouse all forms of immoral behavior and conduct. And in our day sensuality is rampant. It is big busines, purity is scorned in the public eye. Abstinence is not even viewed as a viable alternative by most in our society today.
Mammon worship is another evil form of devotion which has survived unto this present hour. The lust for gold, and the lust for gain, is getting such a hold upon hearts that men are selling out their very souls for it. The something for nothing philosophy, gambling, gaming, it's very prevalent, is it not?
Idols. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Jesus said, "Ye cannot, serve, God, and mammon." How many Christians have we known over the years who have made a decision based solely on an increase in pay?! Move their family to an area, not even knowing if there was a good Bible preaching church there, where they might raise their children, bringing them up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord".
"Ye cannot serve, God, and mammon." These are gods, that we know about, that we read about, living to satisfy one's every whim and appetite of the flesh. This is a dangerous course to follow. Mammon carries the idea of worshipping that which brings us comfort, which brings us luxury, which brings us "fatness" as the Bible says. When Paul wrote to the Philippines, he spoke of those people " whose god is their belly, whose glory is their shame, and who mine earthly things". (Philippians 3:19) He said their end is destruction.
This is not the way that Christians should live. Christians should live a self-sacrificing life. Self-denial should be the rule and not the exception. But the god of convenient creature comforts is alive and well today.
These are some gods that have always been in the world and are active to this very moment. But there are others, even more subtle perhaps. For example, making a good living is not a bad thing, unless it comes ahead of serving the Lord. Some of us could do with a little bit LESS, in order that we might serve the Lord MORE. And not be in violation of the First Commandment. Exercise and recreation are profitable the Bible says, and they have their rightful place, but to be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, is to violate the First Commandment.
Even having a quality family life, is a wonderful thing, but to say that we are going to stay home from church so that we can be together as a family, is CROOKED THINKING. It's not correct. It's putting something before God. Bring your family to church, it's a great family activity. Sit with your family. Worship together as a family. But don't say that we're going to stay away from the house of the Lord so that we can have "family time". God won't honor and bless that. The best combination is to bring your family around you in a ministry that you can do together and serve the Lord together as a family. Ah, that's the key!
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me." This is getting a little uncomfortable. There are people whos gods have kept them from the house of the Lord this morning. There are others whos gods will keep them from the house of the Lord tonight.
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me." But what is meant by something, or anything coming "before God"? It means that nothing should come in PREFERENCE to Him. It means that nothing should come in ADDITION to Him. It means that nothing should come in OPPOSITION or COMPETITION to Him. It's our personal responsibility to make that sure we have no other gods before Him.
May I suggest to you this morning that we have a time of thinking through our lives, and seeing what's there, and clearing the deck if necessary, to make sure that there are no other gods before the True and Living God. And the way that we think, and the way that we live, and the way that we act; it's our personal responsibility. This First Commandment is ultimately about priorities, and about keeping, gaining, and maintaining, the ultimate priority which is a relationship with God.
Don Wyman's chainsaw revved like a motorcycle, and ripped through a three foot oak tree with little difficulty. The day was tuesday, July 20th 1993, in a forest about a hundred miles northeast of Pittsburg Pennsylvania. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon, and Wyman, a burly mining company employee was alone in the forest that day, cutting up a large fallen tree. But when he finished one cut, sudden tragedy struck. The whole tree snapped back in his direction, knocking him down to the ground, the massive oak landed hard on his left shin, shattering his bone and tearing open his flesh. Pinned to the ground and bleeding, Wyman screamed in pain. He tried desperately to free himself. He still had his chain saw in hand, but he couldn't reach enough of the tree to cut himself free.
So he began digging around and beneath his leg using that saw to chop the hard soil. He scouped the loose dirt with his hands, pausing every few minutes to bellow for help, but to no avail. Then to his utter dismay as he dug, he hit a large rock, too large to dig around or move. By this time a full hour had passed, and for the first time he thought that he was probably going to bleed to death.
So there, out in the forest, about 5:00 in the afternoon, he started to weigh out his options. He could lie there, continueing to call for help, and hope against hope, by some slim chance somebody would be walking through the forest and hear him. Or, perhaps he could just somehow wait this thing out, and as darkness would fall, and he would not return home, his wife would call for others to go out and look for him. Perhaps he could make it that way. But he really didn't think so. His third option was that he could just give up and bleed to death.
Or, there was one more option, he didn't really like to relish, but the more he thought the more he realized it was his ONLY option. It was a very scary thing, to consider such a desperate measure, but time was running out and a decision had to be made.
So he pulled the starter cord from off the chainsaw, and he wrapped it as tightly as he could around his leg. And he tied the other end to a wrench. And then he began to twirl the wrench around till it cut off the flow of blood to his shin. And then, somehow, he managed to amputate his own leg below the knee with a pocket knife that he was carrying.
Finally freed from the tree, now with only one leg, he still was not out of the woods, literally or figuratively. All the while, clutching that wrench to keep from bleeding to death, he crawled 135 feet uphill over loose ground to a small bulldozer that he had driven into the forest. He climbed in, started the engine, drove it back through the woods a quarter of a mile to a dairy farmers house.
Obviously, his life was saved that day. Don Wyman's leg was dear to him. But as he lay bleeding to death, beneath the oak tree, he recognized that keeping his leg might cost him something greater.
We too, have certain things in our lives, that are very dear to us, some good, some not so good, some bad. Other gods. These things have crept in; sinful pleasures, lusts, activities of all varieties. Things which may not be wrong, things which are obviously not wrong but right, but nevertheless, THINGS, we don't want to give up but we need to give them up. Because they become gods in our life.
We are in violation of Commandment #1, "Thou shalt have NO OTHER GODS before Me." Losing these things might seem to us like amputating our leg, or gouging out an eye, but these things have come before a relationship with God, and we must take drastic action. And time is of the essence. Time is clicking away, and the opportunity to act is shortening, one second at a time.
You know, the tendence for us when faced with a challenge like this, is to carefully ponder the gods that have crept into our lives. I say the tendence for all of us is to find a way out, is to find a way to dismiss it, is to somehow not make it personal. But have you noticed these Ten Commandments are VERY personal. There is no getting around it. They are INTENSELY personal. The average response to God's law is to make some excuse, but the law excuses not a one.
The subject of these commandments, THOU, or YOU, is in masculine singular, in all of these commandments, and 8 of the 10 are cast in the negative. Thou shalt NOT. Calling attention to the depravity of man, and to the tendence of the human will to go wrong.
G. Campbell Morgan said this, "Let men take five minutes, just five minutes, to shut out every thing, save the great fact that they stand alone with God, some are terribly afraid to spend even as much time as that with their own thoughts. But if they will, NO, if they dare, let they ask as they stand in the light of this first command, WHAT IS MY GOD?"
What is my god? And to what is my life devoted? What is your answer to the question?
If your answer indicates anything that puts God into the background, if there is anything in the foreground of God, then let radical surgery begin! Do whatever is necessary to be sure that you are not in violation if the very first of the commandments. "Thou shalt have no other gods, before me."
In reality, of course, there are no other gods, only the gods of our making.
There IS only one God, only one. Like Dagon, the god of the Philistines, when set in the very presence of the True & Living God, the gods of our making, every time, fall flat on their face.
"Thou shalt have no other gods, before me."
You see, what we believe, and how we behave, are matters of choice, aren't they? They're matters of our choosing. Your religion today, your faith, your reliance, is NOT based on some chance, it's based on your choice. The choices that you make.
We are out of time this morning, but if we could look at Joshua 24, it's talking about the gods of this world, and the gods their neighbors, but in Joshua 24:15 we read:
"Choose YOU this day whom YE will serve..."
(Joshua 24:15)
"...but as for me and my house, WE WILL serve the LORD."
It's your choice, it's your decision.
Chicago Tribune columnist, Bob Green, chronicled his infant daughters first year of life. And when his little girl named Amanda, began to crawl he wrote this,
"This is something I am having trouble getting used to. I will be in my own bed, reading a book or watching TV, and suddenly I'll look down at the foot of the bed, and there I'll see the top of little Amanda's head, and she's just staring at me. So I return the gaze, in a minute or two without saying a word, then suddenly she decides to go back to the living room and crawls back." He goes on to say, "Apparently I have become one of the objects that facinates her. It's so strange," he said, "After months of me having to go to her, NOW SHE IS CHOOSING TO COME TO ME. And all I can figure is that she likes the idea of coming in and looking at me."
So it must be with our God. Who thrills to have us willingly choose to come and worship Him,
and worship ONLY Him. "Thou shalt have no other gods, before me."
Let's pray...
