← Back to sermon library

with me to Deuteronomy chapter 
5. Deuteronomy chapter five, last week we started a series 
on the 10 commandments. We considered the preface to 
the 10 commandments in verses one to six. The preface proper 
is found in verse six. Verses one to five is a call 
to obedience by Moses to the children of Israel on the plains 
of Moab as they're getting ready to enter into the promised land. 
So I want to begin reading in verse six in Deuteronomy chapter 
five. I am the Lord your God who brought 
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 
You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make 
for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that 
is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that 
is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them 
nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am 
a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children 
to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. but showing 
mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. 
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for 
the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Observe 
the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded 
you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the 
seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it, you 
shall do no work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your 
male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your 
donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within 
your gates, that your male servant, your female servant may rest 
as well as you. And remember that you were a 
slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you 
out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore, 
the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Honor 
your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded 
you, that your days may be long and that it may be well with 
you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. You shall 
not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, 
you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, you shall 
not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your 
neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female 
servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. 
These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain, 
from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, 
with a loud voice. And He added no more. And He 
wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me." Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for the written word. We thank You for what we 
have here in the Decalogue. We pray now that Your Holy Spirit 
would guide us in this first commandment. Give us the grace 
to see the necessity, God, to have priorities and to have an 
allegiance that is first and foremost to the true and living 
God. We thank you that you've redeemed us by sovereign grace. 
We thank you that you've blessed us richly, that you have called 
us out of bondage and darkness and sin and depravity and brought 
us into that marvelous light of the Lord Jesus Christ. God, 
it's a privilege for us. It's a blessing for us. to be 
able to worship you and to serve you. And God, nevertheless, we 
find this principle in us, this contrariness in us, that we are 
prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love. So 
do forgive us now and do cleanse us now from all sin and unrighteousness 
and transgression and guide us by your Holy Spirit to receive 
with thanksgiving your word and may it affect the way that we 
live in this world. And we pray these things through 
Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. Well, as we look at this particular 
section, we notice in the first place there are four commandments 
specifically related to God Almighty. They concern God, His worship, 
His name, and His day. Now, the last six are our duty 
toward man, and we'll take those up as we move through the Decalogue. 
But tonight, it's the first commandment, Deuteronomy 5, verse 7. One commentator says, the primary 
purpose of the primary commandment is to assert and protect the 
exclusive covenantal sovereignty of Yahweh as God over the Israelites 
and their exclusive covenantal allegiance to Him. I would argue 
that the first commandment is not only a word concerning theological 
orthodoxy, but also practical loyalty. The Lord God says, you 
shall have no other gods before me. So we'll look first at the 
prohibition of the commandment, and then secondly, the positive 
aspects of the commandment. But in the first place, notice 
this reference to other gods. You shall have no other gods 
before me. The meaning is not, There is 
a pantheon, there's a whole host of others, and some choose this 
one and some choose the other one, but I want you to make sure 
that your choice is of me. He's not actually acknowledging 
the existence of rival gods. He's not actually suggesting 
that there are competing deities. Rather, he is speaking to the 
situation facing the children of Israel. They had come out 
of the land of Egypt. And when God sent forth those 
plagues, it was not only to liberate his people, it was not only to 
bring judgment against Egypt, but it was a mandate or rather 
a judgment against the gods of Egypt to show that they were 
in fact futile. They were nothing. And in this 
particular situation, they are getting ready to enter into the 
promised land. They are going to go into Canaan. 
Later on in Deuteronomy chapter 7, God is going to prohibit them 
from having any social interaction with the Canaanites. They are 
not supposed to marry them. They're not supposed to have 
that sort of closeness and intimacy with them. As well, they're not 
supposed to enter into political alliances because that is contrary 
to the will and word of God. But they're also not supposed 
to have any religious alliance, obviously, with the Canaanites 
in the land. Now, God warns them, but nevertheless, 
they go into the land and they engage in this sort of idolatry. 
The people of the land prayed to Baal. The people of the land 
prayed to Baal as the storm god, as the one who was responsible 
to water the crops. And perhaps the Israelites would 
see rain come, and hear the Canaanites praise Baal from whom all blessings 
flow, and then they begin to conclude that Yahweh isn't as 
good as Baal. That actually obtained in Israel's 
history, but there is a prohibition against that. God says, you shall 
have no other gods before me. The margin reads besides me. There must be no religious worship 
or service given to rival gods before God. You are not supposed 
to have a pantheon. You're not supposed to be like 
those in the ancient Greco world. You're not supposed to have a 
God of the hills and a God of the valleys and a God of the 
skies and a God of the land. There is one true and living 
God and the children of Israel are prohibited from having any 
other gods before him. It is a demand for total allegiance. It is a demand for covenant loyalty. 
It is a demand that is echoed by our Lord in Matthew 6, 33. Seek first the kingdom of God 
and his righteousness and all these things will be added to 
you. In other words, God being who God is, God having done what 
God had done in redeeming them from the land of Egypt, this 
is a necessary implication. You shall have no other gods 
before me. You see the same sort of thing 
in the book of Romans. After detailing the gospel of 
free and sovereign grace in chapters one to 11, how does he begin 
chapter 12? He says, present your bodies 
as a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable service. In 
other words, if God has saved you through the blood of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, then it is necessarily the case that you 
give him everything in return, not for your salvation, but because 
you have been saved. And the same thing is true here. 
You shall have no other gods before me. Now, in terms of the 
specific sins forbidden in the commandment, I'm sure that I'll 
miss a few, but I do want to highlight some of the most important. 
The first is a denial of God. Atheism is what we call this. 
In the Psalter, we see the fool has said in his heart, there 
is no God. Jonathan Edwards argues that 
he's not saying there is no God in the sense of philosophical 
sort of musing, but he is saying no to God. The only other place 
or one of the other places in the New Testament that speaks 
of atheism, it speaks of it as a curse. The Gentiles, prior 
to participating in the covenant promises of Israel, are without 
hope and without God in the world. They are atheistic. But we know 
that it's a philosophical orientation today, where the learned among 
us, the PhDs, the guys who stroke their beards, have philosophically 
argued that there is no God. That is condemned by the commandment, 
you shall have no other gods before me, even atheistic scientific 
ideas that condemn or deny the existence of the true and living 
God. A second thing is the pursuit of many gods. We would call this 
polytheism, manufacturing a whole host of different gods. And I 
want to look at a couple examples of this in the Old Testament. 
You can turn to 2 Kings chapter 17. 2 Kings chapter 17. Polytheism is forbidden. The acknowledgement the worship 
and service of a multitude of gods. Now, in terms of Israel's 
religion in the Old Covenant, they weren't necessarily polytheistic, 
strictly speaking, but they engaged in what was called syncretism. 
Now, syncretism was worshiping Yahweh along with other gods. And God is a jealous God that 
brooks no rival, and therefore that is condemned. And what we 
have in 2 Kings 17 is a manifestation of syncretism. And essentially 
what has happened is that the northern tribes have been judged 
by God. Assyria has come, and Assyria 
has decimated the northern kingdom. And as a serious custom was, 
it was to take exiles from other vanquished countries and bring 
them in and put them in this land of Israel. And yet there 
were some that were still remaining behind, some true Israelites, 
and God sent lions to basically judge these people. And they 
didn't like the lions, as you might be inclined to believe. 
And so they wanted a way to sort of fend off the lions, and they 
pursued religion as a means. And they found an old priest 
from Bethel, which should alert us, because Bethel was a place 
of idolatry in Old Covenant religion. But nevertheless, he counsels 
them on the worship of Yahweh. And then notice in chapter 17 
at verse 29. It says, however, every nation 
continued to make gods of its own and put them in the shrines 
on the high places which the Samaritans had made. Every nation 
in the cities where they dwelt. The men of Babylon made Sukkoth-Bainoth, 
the men of Kuth made Nirgol, the men of Hamath made Ashemah, 
and the Avites made Nibhatz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned 
their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anamelech, the gods of Sepharvim. So they feared the Lord, and 
from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the 
high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high 
places. They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods. According 
to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried 
away." Now, if you have ever read this as an accurate assessment 
of what was happening, you've missed the author's point. He 
is speaking tongue and cheek. There is no way that he would 
ever say they worship Yahweh along with these other gods and 
somehow that was okay. It's dripping with irony. He 
is showing the degradation of these remaining Israelites mingled 
with these persons that have been sowed in the land. This 
is a farce. It is wicked. It is abject wretchedness 
to suggest that one can have the true and living God along 
with an idol and somehow that's okay. There was no fear of God 
before their eyes as they engaged in this practice. You see it 
in the prophet Zephaniah, and you can turn there, the minor 
prophet called Zephaniah. Just before Haggai. if that helps. Zephaniah chapter one, basically 
the Lord through the prophet is highlighting why he is going 
to bring judgment here in this instance, not on the Northern 
kingdom because they've already been decimated, but on the Southern 
kingdom, Judah. And here in Zephaniah 1, notice 
in verse 4, I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against 
all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of 
Baal from this place, the names of the idolatrous priests with 
the pagan priests, those who worship the host of heaven on 
the housetops, those who worship and swear oath by Yahweh, but 
who also swear by Milcom, those who have turned back from following 
the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him. 
See, this idea that we can mingle a bit of Yahweh with these other 
gods, Baal for instance, and then we will be okay. That is 
condemned and that is forbidden in the first commandment. Polytheism, 
a multiplication of gods, or syncretism, which means to take 
the real and true and living God and mingle him with a false 
god. Thirdly, the practice of idolatry 
proper. If you look at the first two 
commandments, they have the same subject matter. The first commandment 
identifies the God we're supposed to worship. The second commandment 
defines the manner in which we worship Him. You understand that? Who we worship, the first commandment 
addresses. how we worship the second commandment 
addresses. And with reference to that second 
commandment, as we will see, God willing, in subsequent weeks, 
we are never called to be creative in worship. We are never called 
to be innovators in worship. We are called to be obedient. 
We call this the regulative principle of worship. God regulates how 
his creatures enter into his presence. And essentially that 
means they sing his word, They pray His Word, they read His 
Word, they preach His Word, and they see His Word in the sacraments. It is Word-based. This is what 
the Bible tells us, and we don't have the right or the option 
to make any changes to that. But idolatry is a constant problem 
with mankind. It's not only addressed, obviously, 
in the Old Testament, but you have it in the New Testament 
as well. You can turn to the book of Romans. Romans chapter 
1. The Apostle Paul is setting forth 
the absolute wickedness of all men, Jew and Gentile, and he's 
dealing specifically with Gentiles in chapter 1. And I think the 
fundamental problem The fundamental issue, and I think that if we 
as God's people get this point, it will hopefully help us to 
pray better and to preach better to a society that looks very 
much like what we find here in Romans chapter one. If you notice 
in verse 18, he says, for the wrath of God is revealed from 
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. There 
is a natural or logical procession there. Ungodliness comes before 
unrighteousness. In other words, what we think 
about God affects the way that we live in this world. If we 
take God out of the universe, then what's wrong with abortion? 
What's wrong with euthanasia? What's wrong with gender rebellion? 
What's wrong with sexual perversion? Nothing, if there's no moral 
governor, if there is no just judge of all the earth. And so 
ungodliness comes first, conspicuously, to highlight what men think about 
God affects the way that men live in light of that reality. So they are, this wrath is revealed 
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth 
in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest 
in them. For God has shown it to them. 
For since the creation of the world is invisible, attributes 
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, 
even as eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. 
Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, 
nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and 
their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became 
fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into 
an image made like corruptible man. and birds, and four-footed 
animals, and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them 
up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts to dishonor their 
bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for 
the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the 
Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. You need to understand 
that what Paul is doing in this bit of scripture is expanding 
upon what he has said. Ungodliness and unrighteousness. We drop down and we see homosexuality. We see the specific violations 
of the commandments in verse 28. Verse 29, being filled with 
all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, 
full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They 
are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, 
inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, 
unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful. So you see, we see those things 
in our society, but we have not yet connected it to the ungodliness. The reason why our culture looks 
the way our culture looks is because men have abandoned the 
true and living God. It's not necessarily in the first 
place this issue or that issue. These are symptoms of the issue 
which is a denial of the true and living God. The exchanging 
of the glorious creator for the creature. A preference of those 
things God has made versus the God who made them. And this is 
Paul's point in this particular passage. Idolatry is rampant. You get to Acts chapter 17, Paul 
at Mars Hill. What happens when he goes to 
the city of Athens? It says that his spirit is provoked 
within him when he looks around and he sees all these idols. 
It was a testimony not to their religiosity, but to their apostasy 
and their defection from the true and living God. So idolatry 
proper is condemned in the first commandment. So, fourthly, is 
the practice of sorcery and witchcraft. You see this in Leviticus 19, 
Deuteronomy chapter 18. Deuteronomy chapter 18 is an 
extended sort of discussion on this. Israel was not supposed 
to go to soothsayers and fortune tellers and witches. Israel was 
a religion that had prophets that spoke for the true and living 
God. You get to that particular scene in 1 Samuel chapter 28. 
Remember that Saul puts all the witches out of the land until 
he hears no word of the living God. Then he seeks out the witch 
at Endor and she brings up what they call Samuel. Now, brethren, 
it worked. It did something. I'm not convinced 
it was Samuel, but they certainly saw and heard something. God 
forbids Israel to go to the pagans for their witchcraft and soothsaying, 
not because it doesn't work, but because it's wicked, vile, 
evil, and rebellious against the true and the living God. 
And so these things are condemned throughout scripture. And then 
I would suggest, fifthly, the sin of heresy. The sin of heresy 
is a denial of God. The first commandment, you shall 
have no other gods before me. Later on in the sermon, I'm gonna 
argue that one of the things required by the commandment is 
that we know God. See, there's a close connection 
between verses 6 and 7 in Deuteronomy chapter 5. You shall have no 
other gods before me. Well, who's me in that proposition? It's the me of verse 6. I am 
Yahweh, your God, that has brought you out of the land of Egypt. 
So any messing with, tampering with, distorting who God is as 
scripture reveals him, in other words, what we call heresy is 
a violation of the first commandment. Now you have freedom of speech 
and freedom of religion in this nation of Canada, but God never 
gives us that. God never gives us the ability 
to be wrong. God never says, you can think 
whatever it is that you want about me, and I'll just try to 
fill those shoes. He doesn't do that. We need to 
think God's thoughts after him. We need to understand what the 
scripture says concerning him. This isn't nebulous, it's not 
generic. You shall have no other gods 
before me. Some sort of undefined, some sort of generic God up there. 
It's the Yahweh of verse six that has acted on behalf of his 
people in sovereign grace to deliver them from the land of 
Egypt. Listen to James Durham comment on this sin of heresy. He says, those guilty of this 
commandment, all gross idolaters of any sort, who usually are 
mentioned under the name of heathens, Jews who worship not the true 
God in His Son Jesus Christ, all heretics that deny the Godhead 
of any of the persons, as Sibelians who make but one person, Arians 
who make Christ a made God, Photinians who make Him a pure man, and 
all that make a plurality of gods, or that lessen the divine 
attributes, and give to the saints God's due, in adoration or invocation, 
or in a word, whoever contradicts any truth or maintains any error." 
See, again, you have the right in Canada, express yourself any 
way you want, but you don't have that right under God. You have 
to think properly about God, and this commandment calls us 
to engage in that sort of thought. We are not at liberty to distort, 
to twist, or to get wrong who God is. He goes on to say, for 
thereby they fasten it upon God and His word and wrong Him who 
owns no such thing. And to these may be added all 
ignorant persons who know not God. And then I would suggest 
a sixth thing that comes out of what we saw there in Romans 
1.25. Paul says, who these sinful wretches of which we obviously 
are part of, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and 
worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is 
blessed forever. So any expression of devotion 
to the creature before the Creator. That is a violation of the first 
commandment. And again, hearken back to Matthew 
6.33. Seek first the kingdom of God 
and His righteousness. Our devotion, our allegiance, 
our connection ought to be first and foremost to the true and 
living God. Edward Fisher in the Marrow of Modern Divinity 
says in a word, whatsoever the mind of man is carried after, 
or his heart and affection set upon, either more or as much 
as upon God, that he makes his God. In other words, what do 
we prefer the most? We've made that God. Now that's 
not just a bale. That's not just an asherah pole. 
That's not just some sort of stick or stone or something that 
men fabricate. It could be good things. What 
does Jesus say with reference to money in Matthew chapter six? You can't serve God and mammon. Money in and of itself isn't 
immoral. Money doesn't rob banks. Money 
doesn't kill people. Money doesn't get up and and 
do horrific things. It's how man uses money. We can 
take good things, good creatures, and make idols out of them. We 
can put other things before the living and the true God. And 
I think Fisher is right on that particular note. We need to guard 
our hearts even with our love for the creature. And in terms 
of the ways in which the command is broken, the thoughts, The 
fool has said in his heart, there is no God. He doesn't always 
verbalize that, he doesn't always vocalize that, he doesn't write 
big philosophical treatises to try and justify this atheistic 
point of view, but the fool says in his heart, there is no God. 
That is certainly a way that we can be guilty of violating 
this first commandment. As well, the words. Turn to Malachi, 
the prophet, for just a couple of examples of their sort of 
denial of God, their lack of allegiance to God, the final 
prophet in the Old Testament. The book of Malachi, chapter 
2 at verse 17, in the first place. Chapter 2, verse 17 indicates 
how they had done this. You have wearied the Lord with 
your words, yet you say, in what way have we wearied him? In that 
you say, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, 
and he delights in them, or where is the God of justice? Now that 
may seem far removed from us, but I don't think it is. I think 
there's a lot of this in professing people of God today. They don't 
see the justice of God executed the way they think it should 
be. And so they start to wonder, they start to throw up their 
hands and say, well, doesn't God care about the gross injustices? Doesn't God care about the suffering? 
Doesn't God involve himself in the affairs of men? I don't think 
that's far removed from many people that profess the name 
of Jesus Christ. This sort of idea that God is not sovereign 
when it comes to providence. The idea that God does not delight 
in justice, or God does not delight in goodness, because there seems 
to be an absence of that goodness targeting His people. They do 
more of the same in chapter 3. Notice in chapter 3, verses 13 
to 15. Your words have been harsh against 
me, says the Lord. Yet you say, what have we spoken 
against you? It's kind of an interesting pattern 
in the prophet Malachi. The prophet indicts them for 
a particular offense, and then they say, what do you mean? Who, 
us? What are you talking about? That in and of itself is wrong. 
When the prophet of the living and true God indicts you for 
something, he's right. You're not. You're not going 
to win that exchange. Don't say, I can't believe that 
you're pointing these things out to me. I can't believe that 
you would suggest that I haven't been perfect. I can't believe 
that you would suggest that I haven't told my covenantal line as I 
ought. That's precisely how they respond 
in each of the cycles, in each of the oracles that the prophet 
Malachi brings to them. What do you mean? Who, us? And 
it's the same sort of thing here. Yet you say, what have we spoken 
against you? You have said, it is useless 
to serve God. What prophet is it that we have 
kept his ordinance and that we have walked as mourners before 
the Lord of hosts? So now we call the proud blessed 
for those who do wickedness are raised up. They even tempt God 
and go free. So the point is, with reference 
to this first commandment, we break it by thoughts, we break 
it by words, and of course we break it by our deeds. And again, 
Matthew chapter 6, Jesus says in verse 24, you cannot serve 
God and mammon. There is an evident commitment 
to mammon on the part of those, at times, who profess the name 
of Jesus Christ. Again, money in and of itself 
isn't wrong. Having money isn't wrong. It's 
what we do with that money that can be wrong. And oftentimes, 
it shows that our attention is divided. As C.S. Lewis says, 
once in a while, a young man says, well, I'm just trying to 
make my way in the world. But he doesn't realize it's the 
world that's making its way into his heart. So we need to guard 
against those particular expressions. And of course, in Romans chapter 
one, the sodomy, the perversion, the brutality, the murder, the 
rage, the abject wickedness that filled society then and fills 
it now is symptomatic of idolatry. They've exchanged the truth of 
God for the lie and they've worshiped and served the creature rather 
than the creator who is blessed forever. So that is the prohibition. Again, we could probably expand 
on that, but that's what we're gonna do tonight. Now let's look 
secondly at the positive aspects of the command. The first place, 
we must know God. It says, you shall have no other 
gods before me. The Westminster Larger Catechism 
sort of details what's involved in this commandment. We need 
to know God, we need to show love to God, we need to have 
fear of God, obedience to God, trust in God, and the worship 
of God. I just want to focus tonight 
on the knowledge of God. In the first place, the necessity 
of knowing the true and living God. And I think a bit a reminder 
as to who the verse 6 Yahweh is is probably necessary for 
us, not because we're dense or not because we're foolish, but 
because there's no greater thing than the creature can consider 
than who God is. Doesn't Jesus define the essence 
of eternal life as the knowledge of God? This is eternal life. They may know thee, the only 
true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I suggest, brethren, 
when we get to heaven, it's not going to be the pearly gates 
that captures our eyes. It's not going to be all of the 
gold. It's not going to be all of the pomp and the majesty. 
The land is all the glory of Emmanuel's land. It's going to 
be Christ that we're taken up with. It's going to be the Godhead. 
It's going to be the Father, Son, and Spirit. It's going to 
be the reality that we are with that one who is altogether lovely 
and chief among 10,000. So the knowledge of God is most 
excellent. The knowledge of God for creatures, 
the knowledge of God for redeemed creatures, which we profess to 
be. And with reference to the necessity 
of knowing the true and living God, I have three things I wanna 
suggest. In the first place, we need to 
know the doctrine of the Trinity. Because when Yahweh says in verse 
six, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land 
of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, he is the Trinity. If you go back to Genesis chapter 
one, you see a Trinity of persons even there. Verse one, Genesis 
one, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The 
earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face 
of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the face 
of the waters. Then God said, let there be light, 
and there was light. God the Father, God the Spirit, 
God the Word, God the Son. In the beginning was the Word, 
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus is the 
Logos of God. He is the agent of creation. 
The New Testament makes that clear, but I see the Trinity 
of Persons in this passage. Genesis chapter 1 at verse 26. Then God said, let us make man 
in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion 
over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over 
the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing 
that creeps on the earth. Turn to Psalm 33. Psalm 33, just 
a couple of Old Testament passages on the trinity of persons, but 
we'll look more detailed at the New Testament. Psalm 33, divine 
commentary on what we have previous. Notice in Psalm 33, six. By the word of Yahweh, the heavens 
were made. There's Jesus again. In the beginning 
was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The word became flesh and tabernacled 
among us. So it's by Jesus, Yahweh, or 
by Jesus, the word of the Lord, the heavens were made. And all 
the host of them by, notice the language, the breath of his mouth. 
The Hebrew word breath there is also translatable as spirit. I think Psalm 33, 6 indicates 
or intimates a trinity of persons involved in the creation account. 
Turn to the New Testament, Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28, 
rehearsing some ground that we covered in the past. So hopefully 
repetition will seal the deal. Notice what Jesus says in Matthew 
28, 18. And Jesus came and spoke to them 
saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on 
earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, 
baptizing them in the name, singular, the name singular, not the names 
of, but the name singular of the Father and of the Son and 
of the Holy Spirit. Our confession of faith, chapter 
two, which I highly commend in terms of the knowledge of God, 
says, in this divine and infinite being, there are three subsistences, 
or persons, the Father, the Word, or Son, and the Holy Spirit, 
of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole 
divine essence, yet the essence undivided, distinguished by several 
peculiar relative properties, and personal relations. So there 
is distinction among the persons. There is this one true and living 
God who exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now our 
confessional formulation highlights that God is one in one sense 
in terms of substance or essence, but he's three in another sense 
in terms of person or subsistence. So when you speak to a Jehovah's 
Witness and you highlight the doctrine of the Trinity, they 
say it's contradictory. It can't be that something's 
three and that something's one. It's not three and one in the 
same sense. It's three persons, one essence. It would be contradictory to 
maintain three essences, one essence, three persons, one person. That would be heretical. But 
to maintain with the confession, rightly reflecting what Scripture 
teaches, God is one. One essence, one substance, who 
exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each has the 
whole divine essence. It's not like 33 and a third 
percent. It's not like some have a little 
bit less than the others. No, that's not what the confession, 
rightly reflecting Scripture, indicates. Tritheism says that 
Father, Son, and Spirit are three different essences in the genus 
God. Tritheism is wrong, it's heretical, 
and that's not the doctrine of the Trinity. Modalism, or Sabellianism, 
is another heresy represented today by oneness Pentecostalism. T.D. Jakes, by the way, is a 
oneness Pentecostal. T.D. Jakes, by the way, unless 
he has repented or recanted, is a modalist and should not 
be trusted at all. But with reference to modalism, 
it says that the one divine essence or person manifests itself in 
distinct modes. So God was the Father, He became 
the Son, and now He's the Spirit. That's heresy. You cannot maintain 
that. Tritheism is wrong. Modalism 
is wrong, as is subordinationism. That claims that the one divine 
essence is marked by a gradation of degree or rank. So there's 
degree or rank among the three persons of the Trinity, and there 
are some Protestants that are very dangerously close to this 
particular heresy. They teach the eternal subordination 
of the Son. The son is subordinate to the 
father in the work of redemption. In the economic trinity, of course, 
the son willingly submits himself to the father, but that's not 
in terms of essence. And to try and make that case 
is to do disservice to the scriptures and ultimately denies the son 
his glory, his power, and his majesty. So with reference to 
the Trinity, it's not just something that we kind of have an idea 
about. We know that the Bible says Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit. We need to have a good understanding 
of it because we need to understand in order to worship, in order 
to praise, and in order to have no other gods before him. If 
we are wrong on who God is, then most likely we're gonna be wrong 
about everything else in religion. There are several triadic references 
in the New Testament. I'll just highlight a couple. 
Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 13. Verse 14, the grace of the Lord 
Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the 
Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Now notice Paul doesn't 
say, I'm going to argue now for the triunity of God. I'm going 
to argue now for the distinctiveness of Father, Son, and Spirit, yet 
one God, each having the whole divine essence. He doesn't do 
that. This is a benediction. This is 
simply who God is, Father, Son, and Spirit. Notice in Galatians 
chapter 4, and this is just some of the triadic or threefold sort 
of reference to God. Galatians chapter 4. specifically 
verses four to six. But when the fullness of the 
time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born 
under the law to redeem those who are under the law, that we 
might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, 
God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, 
crying out, Abba, father. Therefore, you are no longer 
a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Father, son, spirit. Turn over 
to Ephesians chapter 1. You're all familiar with this 
great passage. Verses 3 to 14 is one long sentence in Greek. It's broken down or punctuated 
a bit more fully in these English translations because we don't 
typically traffic in those sorts of sentences. And so what the 
authors or the translators do is they put a little punctuation 
along the way, but it does break it up. 3 to 14 is one long sentence 
of praise to the Father for the work of the Father, the Father 
blessing us through the sod, and the Father blessing us through 
the work of the Spirit. The Trinity is everywhere in 
the Bible. Notice I didn't say in the New 
Testament. I would argue again. The Trinity 
is definitely Old Testament. B.B. Warfield makes the observation 
that, you know, when you get to the New Testament, the fuller 
light of Revelation is turned on, and you see everything that 
was in this room, this parlor, all the furniture was there. 
Well, it was there in the Old Testament, but the light wasn't 
shining on it like it is in the New Testament. But I think there 
is a little bit more light with reference to the doctrine of 
the Trinity in the Old Testament than sometimes we're led to believe. 
It's not simply a New Testament revelation, though I must admit, 
the sending of the Son and the Spirit is the best affirmation 
of the doctrine of the Trinity. But in Ephesians, Paul celebrates 
what we have from God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As well, 
we have 2.18. Look at Ephesians 2.18. Well, picking up in verse 14, 
for he himself is our peace who has made both one and has broken 
down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh 
the enmity, that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, 
so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making 
peace, and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body 
through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And he came 
and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who 
were near, for through him, Christ, we both have access by one spirit 
to the Father. Again, this isn't just one text 
here or there. It is literally littered throughout 
the scripture. God is Trinity. The Lord God 
Most High is one true and living God who has eternally existed 
as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In fact, Westminster's shorter 
catechism says, are there more gods than one? No, there is but 
one only, the true and living God. And then it says, how many 
persons are there in the Godhead? There are three persons in the 
Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And these 
three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and 
glory. Now again, brethren, you may 
not write, you know, Augustine's treatise on the Trinity. You 
may never fully explore Augustine's treatise on the Trinity. You 
may never read John Owen's treatment on the Trinity. You may not ever 
read, say, Stephen Charnock or some of these Puritan divines 
on the doctrine of the Trinity. But you simply cannot say, well, 
that's, you know, that's something I just can't understand. Yeah, 
you can. You absolutely positively can. God is one in one sense and three 
in another. I don't know how that's so difficult. 
I don't know why that's such a confusing sort of doctrine 
or why it's such a confusing thing. Does the Bible affirm 
one true and living God? Absolutely it does. Does the 
Bible affirm the Father is God? Yes, it absolutely does. Does 
it affirm that Jesus Christ is God? Yes, it absolutely does. 
Does it affirm that the Holy Spirit is God? Yes, it absolutely 
does. Does it affirm three gods? No, 
there is but one true and living God who exists eternally as Father, 
Son, and Spirit. We cannot get this wrong. In 
fact, Francis Turretin, in his Institutes, makes this observation. 
It is not sufficient to know that God is as to existence or 
what He is as to His attributes, but we must know also who He 
is as to the persons as He presents Himself to be known by us in 
His Word. Hence, whoever denies the Son, 
the same has not the Father. 1 John 2.23. And he that honoreth 
not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. John 
5.23. Therefore, God has revealed himself 
as one in essence, three in persons, the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit. Now this is a Very perceptive 
and excellent statement that he makes here at the end. I mean, 
I think the whole quote is excellent, but listen to what he says. Thus, 
he who does not acknowledge and believe the Trinity has not the 
true God, but has erected for himself an idol in the place 
of God. Now, we're not usually the way, 
we don't usually traffic in that sort of severity, but that's 
true. Jesus, as I mentioned this morning, 
says in John 8, if you do not believe that I am, you will die 
in your sins. Thomas makes that lofty confession 
of faith in John 20, 28, my Lord and my God. Look at John's gospel. It begins and ends on that crescendo 
that Christ is God. In the beginning was the Word 
and the Word was with God and the Word was God. It ends with 
that confession of Thomas, my Lord and my God. What is the 
Bible telling us? The Bible is telling us there 
is one true and living God who exists eternally as Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit. So in terms of the first commandment 
and sort of the positive aspect of that commandment, we need 
to know God. And firstly, we need to know 
the Trinity. We need to know who the Father, 
Son, and Spirit are. Secondly, we need to have the 
knowledge of the perfections of God. Oftentimes we call them 
attributes, and I don't really have a problem with that, as 
long as we realize it's not the case that God is sort of made 
up of these particular things. I think perfections rehearses 
better the truth behind these things. Now, in terms of the 
perfections of God, I think our confession is fantastic here. 
It's a bit of an extended quote. We're not going to go much longer, 
so indulge me this few moments. It says, the Lord our God is 
but one only living and true God, whose subsistence is in 
and of himself, infinite in being and perfection, whose essence 
cannot be comprehended by any but himself, a most pure spirit, 
invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only hath immortality, 
dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, who is 
immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, Almighty, every 
way infinite, most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute, 
working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable 
and most righteous will for his own glory, most loving, gracious, 
merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving 
iniquity, transgression and sin, the rewarder of them that diligently 
seek him and with all most just and terrible in his judgments, 
hating all sin and who will by no means clear the guilty. There 
is so much good theology packed into that short compass. I wish 
every believer read that on a regular basis. I think that when we get 
a glimpse of who the Bible tells us God is, it should promote 
great humility on our part. It should promote in us a recognition, 
a realization of the great chasm that exists between creator and 
creature. When we look at a definition 
like this, or a description like this, which simply takes the 
various things that the Bible teaches and brings it together 
in one helpful sort of paragraph, it's mind-blowing, brethren. 
This is the God with whom we have to do. I'm convinced that 
no one in the world ever thinks of God in these terms. I'm almost 
convinced that no one in the church thinks of God in these 
terms as well. Now, many of these perfections 
or many of these attributes we're very sort of familiar with. We're 
not so familiar with most pure spirit. What does the confession 
mean by that? The confession means that God 
is pure act. There's no potency in God. There's no becoming in God. There's 
no growing in God. There's no progression in God. God is pure act. He is a most 
pure spirit. It goes on to highlight that 
he's without body. He's non-corporeal. He is spirit, 
according to our Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 4. He's without 
parts. Again, there are not things that 
sort of make up God. This is the doctrine of divine 
simplicity. And if this doctrine is compromised, 
then the rest of the doctrine of God collapses. I would suggest 
that's why we have such problems with who God is in this modern 
age. It's because we've denied or 
haven't thought through the implications of simplicity. God is a simple 
being. We are compounded. We are made 
up of other things. God as simple indicates that 
there's nothing prior to God that went into the manufacture 
of God. And then the confession says 
that he's without passions. That means that God is not like 
us. It means that God is impassable. It means that God can be most 
loving, most gracious. There's no increase, there's 
no diminishment. The doctrine of divine impassibility 
tells us that all that God is, He always is, and He always will 
be, and He's always been. There's no change, there's no 
flux, there's no movement, there's no increased blessedness, there's 
no diminished blessedness. Nothing of the sort occurs with 
God. This God is wholly other. We 
are inclined to think that God is simply the highest in a particular 
chain of being. We look at dog, we look at man, 
we look at angel, and we put God in that same category. That's 
not the way it is. We have much more in common with 
a worm than we do with God in terms of a chain of being. God 
is creator. We are creature. Worms are creature. We have far more affinity with 
them. The Bible sets forth this distinction 
between the creator and the creature, and it is good for us to ponder 
that, it is good for us to recollect that, it is good for us to know 
the God with whom we have to do. And I would suggest our confession 
of faith, I would suggest it is a good place to start in terms 
of understanding the perfections of God. If you're so inclined 
to studying more, give me an email, I can recommend some books 
to you that I think would be very helpful in this regard. 
I mean, think about it. How many times do the people 
of God get caught up with various and sundry doctrines without 
ever having pondered, meditated upon, or mused on just who God 
is? We can be as guilty as the pagans 
out there for having this generic, sort of nebulous, undefined view 
of who God is. The Bible doesn't let us. The 
Bible tells us who God is. The Bible shows us and demonstrates 
it in a great and glorious way. And in Psalm 111, it says, great 
are the works of the Lord. They are studied by all who delight 
in them. Have you ever seen somebody that 
is caught up in the study of biology, or they're caught up 
in the study of astronomy, or they're caught up in the study 
of the creature? I'm not saying that's necessarily 
wrong, but the greater the works of the Lord, they are studied 
by all who delight in them. Do we study God? Do we study 
His creation? Do we study providence? Do we 
study the doctrine of redemption? Do we delight ourselves in the 
knowledge of God? Is that what Jesus says in John 
17, 3, a reality for us? that this is eternal life, that 
they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom 
Thou hast sent. We need to know the Trinity. 
We need to know the perfections of God. And thirdly, and finally, 
we need to know something of the external works of God, how 
God relates to the creation. God created. Genesis 1 to 3 is 
truth. Now, I know there are a lot of 
competing theories out there that have tried to upbraid that, 
but there is no reason whatsoever why any person should ever get 
on that bus. Genesis 1 to 3 is a comprehensive 
statement of the creative power of our great and glorious God. 
We read in Psalm 115 in terms of providence, our God is in 
the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. 
Do you know what the psalmist is doing in Psalm 115? He is 
ridiculing the concept of idolatry. These idols have eyes, but they 
can't see. They have mouths, but they can't 
speak. They have ears, but they can't hear. They have hands, 
but they can't handle. They have feet, but they can't 
run. And then he says this in Psalm 115a, all those who worship 
them will be like them. That is a condemnation upon man 
who has exchanged the glorious God who has created for those 
things which are created. And it is wrong, it is a violation 
of the first commandment, and positively with reference to 
that commandment, we ought to learn who God is. We ought to 
know God, we ought to increase in that understanding and take 
seriously the admonition of 2 Peter 3, 18. But grow in the grace 
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Brethren, 
practically that means come to church. Brethren, that means 
practically read your Bible. Brethren, that means practically 
read James Dolezal, all that is in God. That means practically 
be familiar with our confession of faith. It means practically 
that you are growing in your understanding of who God is. You don't have to be a PhD. What's 
the Psalmist say in Psalm 19 and then again in Psalm 119? 
The law of Yahweh makes wise the simple. You don't have to 
have gone to seminary. You don't have to have gone to 
Bible school. You just have to read your Bible 
and good theology. What is God or who is God? God 
is spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, and is being, 
wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. That's Westminster 
Shorter Catechism. I've often said our little children 
who can speak that truth probably know 90% more theology than many 
who are preaching, so-called preaching in churches today. 
We have to get serious about theology proper. We have to know 
the true and living God. We have to understand, not like 
Augustine perhaps, not like Paul perhaps, but accurately what 
Paul and Augustine taught in terms of the triunity of God. 
We need to ponder these perfections. It's an encouragement. Do you 
realize our confession says concerning God that he is most loving? Do you ever just think about 
how great that is? The doctrine of divine impassibility 
secures that for us. It's not the case that on Sunday 
he looks down and he sees you in the right place at the right 
time and his heart swells with love for you. And then on Monday 
you're doing something wrong and that love decreases or diminishes. He's most loving. Some say the 
doctrine of divine impassibility presents to us a static and inert 
God. No, it doesn't. It shows us a 
God who is most. It shows us a God who is fully 
engaged in the lives of his people. It shows us a God who is committed 
from beginning in the middle to the very end in terms of their 
redemption. If we do not know God, brethren, 
we are in big trouble. And if we do not know God, we're 
not going to successfully face the various assaults and challenges 
that we are facing today. I cannot, for the life of me, 
entertain the thought that there are believers out there that 
scratch their heads and say, well, I think the Bible says 
this, that, or the other. You need to start to know where 
the Bible says it. That's why when we have Bible 
studies and we have the Saturday morning thing, and whenever we're 
not live streaming, I ask, where does the Bible teach this? I'm 
really not trying to be a nasty, mean teacher. I'm simply wanting 
you to realize you need to know where these texts are. You meet 
Jehovah's Witnesses, you meet Mormons, you meet atheists, you 
meet God-hating rebels. You're going to vote in a month. 
How do you do that without the sufficient knowledge of who God 
is as Trinity in His perfections and with reference to His external 
works in terms of creation and providence and redemption? The 
knowledge of God is crucial. Read the prophets and see how 
God takes to the people of God when they don't know Him. My 
people perish for what? for their adultery, for their 
perversion, for their abortion. Yeah, but my people perished 
for what? For a lack of knowledge. What 
does God say through the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 9? You can 
turn there. This will be the last text we 
look at. Jeremiah chapter 9. The apostle Paul cites this or 
invokes this in 1 Corinthians 1. Jeremiah 9, 23, let not the wise 
man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his 
might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who 
glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that 
I am the Lord exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness 
in the earth, for in these I delight, says the Lord. That's where our 
boast ought to be. That's what we should be about 
as the people of God. Those who know their God engage 
in exploits for Him. Those who don't sit around like 
passive people doing nothing ever for the kingdom of righteousness. So let me encourage you, read 
your Bible, read your confession of faith, attend the corporate 
means of grace, and seek by grace to grow in the grace and knowledge 
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's not just my sort 
of suggestion. The first commandment demands 
it. The first commandment condemns sin against God, but the first 
commandment requires allegiance to God. We'll take up the rest 
of those particular points, the Lord willing, next week, but 
in terms of this particular commandment, it teaches us two things. In 
the first place, it shows us our need for the Savior. It shows 
us our need for Christ. Heidelberg Catechism number three, 
how do you know, or how do you come to know your misery? The 
law of God tells me. One commentator says, the first 
commandment is always a call to repentance because we are 
rarely single-minded in our commitment to God. The commandment taken 
seriously produces the response, God be merciful to me, the sinner. See, in the first place, this 
commandment has a pedagogical use. It functions as a child 
tutor to show us our waywardness, to show us our rebellion. Perhaps 
we've embraced atheism. Perhaps we've embraced idolatry. 
Perhaps we've embraced polytheism. Perhaps we're heretical in our 
orientation. This is a call to repent. You 
shall have no other gods before me, says Yahweh. And if you are 
not saved, the way to know the true and living God is to come 
to the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. 
As we saw this morning in Stephen's blessed sermon to the household 
of Cornelius, that everyone who believes or whoever believes 
in his name will receive the remission of sins. So that commandment 
calls us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to understand who 
God is and to worship him accordingly. And then secondly, The normative 
use of this commandment ought to get into our hearts, ought 
to get into our minds, and ought to cause us to take seriously 
the requirement that we grow in our understanding of who the 
Lord God Most High is. Well, let us close in a word 
of prayer. Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for 
these commandments delivered on the plains of Moab, delivered 
at Sinai in Exodus 20. And God, we know they are as 
important, as valuable, as necessary today as they were then. And 
God, we know that You give us the Holy Spirit so that we may 
indeed comply, and we rejoice in that. We ask God that you 
would help us to appreciate the knowledge of God, to grow in 
our understanding of who you are as Father, Son, and Spirit. Help us to reflect upon those 
perfections of God and as well those works of God in terms of 
creation and providence and redemption. Lord, help us in these things 
and help us to think your thoughts properly, help us to value and 
prize the Holy Scripture, and may you sanctify us by your word. 
Your word is truth. We pray that you would go with 
us now, grant us safety in this coming week, grant us the grace 
to serve and to glorify and to praise you, and we ask through 
Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation.