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Your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 
5 Deuteronomy chapter 5 we're taking up the second commandment 
this evening verses 8 to 10 But I'll begin reading in Deuteronomy 
5 at verse 6 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 and 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. that 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 and 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. Father in 
heaven, we thank you again for the written word of the living 
God. We thank you for this declaration of of who you are vis-a-vis the 
law of God. And I pray that you would cause 
us now to receive with thankful hearts your word. May your Holy 
Spirit be at work in each one of our hearts and minds, that 
you would internalize these things, that we would hold fast to them, 
and that we would not violate transgress or lack conformity 
unto this written law of the living and true God. We know 
we're not saved by our law-keeping. We're saved by grace through 
faith in Jesus. But Jesus points us to the law 
and prays that you would sanctify us by your truth, your word is 
truth. So God help us to internalize 
these things and help us to walk in careful obedience to these 
things by the presence and the power of your Holy Spirit. Again, 
forgive us for having transgressed and forgive us for not always 
having the proper mindset with reference to the worship of the 
true and living God. Forgive us and cleanse us in 
that precious blood of the Lord Jesus. And we pray in his most 
blessed name. Amen. Well, the first two commandments 
go together. The first commandment defines 
for us the God that we are to worship, and the second commandment 
specifies the manner in which we are to worship. Watson says, 
in the first commandment, worshiping a false god is forbidden. In 
this, the second commandment, worshiping the true God in a 
false manner. It is simply unacceptable to 
worship the true God in a way not prescribed by God. God is 
the law giver. God is the sovereign. God is 
the authority. He doesn't judge us based on 
our good intentions or by our zeal, but rather by our obedience 
to his written word. We're not supposed to be innovators 
with reference to worship. We're not supposed to be creative. 
We're supposed to be obedient to the voice of the living and 
the true God. As we look at this particular 
commandment, we'll look first at the positive aspect of the 
commandment, secondly, the prohibition of the commandment, and then 
thirdly, the reason given for the commandment. But with reference 
to the positive aspect, there is an emphasis here on true worship. Worship is something we were 
created by God to do. God made us to glorify Him and 
to enjoy Him forever. But in Adam, we died, and therefore 
we didn't, or we don't, worship God aright. So God in redemption 
brings us to Himself through the blood of the Lord Jesus, 
through the gospel of our salvation, and then He puts it in us to 
worship Him. That is our desire. And there is that emphasis here 
in the first and second commandment on true worship. You've already 
seen it in the Pentateuch. You see it in Deuteronomy chapter 
4. You see it as well in Deuteronomy chapter 12. The emphasis on a 
central sanctuary in Israel's religious life was to prohibit 
or prevent them from going after the idols. In other words, if 
there was one place where they were supposed to go, a sanctioned 
place, an authorized place given by Yahweh, then that would hopefully 
prevent them from going a-whoring from God. So there is this emphasis 
with reference to true worship, and these two commandments evidence 
that. As well, we mentioned this morning, 
we typically call this day Reformation Sunday. I realize that the 31st 
is on Thursday, but this is the closest Lord's Day. So 502 years 
ago, officially, the Protestant Reformation was launched, and 
one of the areas that they were very, very concerned with was 
on worship, because much of Roman Catholicism had degenerated. It wasn't worship, it was rather 
idolatry. For those of you who have not 
been brought up in a Roman Catholic situation, some of that may be 
lost on you, but their central aspect of worship is an act of 
idolatry. In what we call the Lord's Supper, 
they call the Eucharist. And in their Eucharist, which 
Eucharist isn't a bad way to refer to it, other than it sort 
of reeks of Romanism, but that's not a bad word to refer to it 
as. But in their view, they are turning the bread and the wine 
into the actual body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
then at a particular point in the ceremony, the priest lifts 
that, the altar boy rings bells, and then the people in the pew 
are supposed to worship that host that has been lifted. That's 
idolatry. He then takes the cup. In the 
same process, he pronounces the words of consecration, the words 
of change, the hocus-pocus, literally, and then he lifts that cup, the 
altar boy rings the bell, and then the faithful are supposed 
to worship. So that is an act of worshiping 
the creature. We're not called in Scripture 
to worship the bread and the wine. We're called in Scripture 
to use those tangible elements to remind us of our Lord's death 
and to shed blood on behalf of sinners. So the Reformation emphasis 
on true worship was very conspicuous. But not only do we see in these 
first two commandments an emphasis on true worship, we see an emphasis, 
especially in the second commandment, on the regulation of true worship. The regulation of true worship. And that has yielded a Protestant 
principle called the regulated principle of worship. In other 
words, when we gather together to worship the true and the living 
God, what's supposed to inform our conduct? Is it the prevailing 
opinions of man? Is it the cultural norms? Is 
it man's innate desire to be entertained and to be wowed and 
wooed? No, it's the word of the living God. You see that emphasis 
in Deuteronomy chapter 12 at verse 32. God, through Moses, 
says, whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You 
shall not add to it nor take away from it. We are to do what 
God has commanded in his word. We are forbidden, or rather we 
are to abstain from what is forbidden, but we're also to abstain from 
what is not commanded. This is what the regulative principle 
of worship is. We do what God tells us to do. It's a very simple principle, 
but unfortunately we have departed from this in a whole host of 
ways. You see this codified in the 
New Testament. Hebrews 12, 28. Therefore, since 
we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have 
grace by which we may serve God acceptably. Who defines what 
acceptable worship is? Do you define that? Do I define 
that? No, God defines that in his word. We are to worship God acceptably 
with reverence and godly fear. And then the apostle indicates 
for our God, is a consuming fire. That comes straight from Deuteronomy 
4.24. So there is a consistency between the Testaments in terms 
of worship. There is a bit of difference. 
The worship practices of Old Covenant Israel look different. 
They were more carnal in nature. They were more associated with 
temple. There was the use of incense. There was sacrifice. 
All those sorts of things. But they were prescribed or commanded 
by God. In New Covenant worship, it's 
a lot simpler. In New Covenant worship, there's 
not that sort of external emphasis that you find in the Old Covenant 
people of God. As Terry Johnson says, to put 
it simply, in worship we pray the Bible, sing the Bible, read 
the Bible, and preach and see the Bible in the sacraments. 
I think that's a great description of the regulative principle of 
worship. You see this principle in 1 Timothy 
chapter 3 as well. The apostle writes to Timothy, 
and he says, these things I write to you, though I hope to come 
to you shortly. But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know 
how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is 
the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the 
truth. You see, Paul doesn't say, Timothy, do whatever you 
feel led to do. Timothy, take a pole from the 
community there in Ephesus and find out what it is that would 
make them happy. You survey the neighborhood, 
you provide them with options. When they tick the boxes, you 
form the worship service after that desire. No, I write so that 
you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house 
of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and 
ground of the truth. Positively, our confession of 
faith highlights this principle when it says, but the acceptable 
way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself and 
so limited by his own revealed will. And I don't think that 
should be a principle that we have any difficulty with or any 
problem with. What does Paul say in 1 Timothy 
3? The Church of God is the household of God. If it's His house, He 
certainly gets to call the shots in terms of conduct that is carried 
out in His house. We simply don't have the right 
to jettison what He has commanded and substitute in its place those 
things which are pleasing to the flesh. That is not our prerogative. That is not our right. In sum, 
with reference to the positive aspect of the commandment, one 
more. Quote from Benjamin Keech, he says, whatsoever we do in 
the worship of God, we must see we have a command from God to 
warrant our practice. And also we must not add to, 
nor diminish from, nor alter anything. If we do, God will 
not hold us guiltless. So there's a lot involved in 
this second commandment. And it is quite intriguing to 
me how many times in the church and how many times among individual 
Christians, we insist upon obedience to the sixth commandment. We 
don't want murder. We insist upon obedience to the 
seventh commandment. We don't want sexual perversion. How often we insist on those 
second table laws and we neglect wholesale how we're supposed 
to worship God and the fact that he has instituted a particular 
day for that worship. You see, the first table is binding 
on us as well, and we need to take that seriously. In fact, 
if we get the first table wrong, the second table is probably 
not going to go very well either. How we think about God, how we 
relate to God, how we worship God will affect our horizontal 
relationships. If we belittle Him, if we demean 
Him, if we blur the distinction between Creator and creature, 
we're probably not going to be well fit and equipped to actually 
be in the service of others on a horizontal level. So that's 
the positive aspect, an emphasis on true worship and the regulation 
of true worship. When you look at the commandment, 
he says in verse 8, 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." So that is the 
regulation of acceptable worship with reference to the true and 
living God. Now, secondly, in terms of the prohibition, there's 
two. You're not supposed to make idols, and you're not supposed 
to worship idols. You're not supposed to make idols 
and you're not supposed to worship idols. Now, I want to draw out 
four lines of evidence or four sort of substantiating or corroborating 
statements with reference to the making of idols. In the first 
place, we have to note the qualification. Verse 8 says, 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. Now, this does not prohibit all 
art. There are those who take this 
particular commandment and say any sort of representation of 
anything in heaven, of anything under the water, any sort of 
a picture to have a beluga whale. would be to violate this particular 
commandment. That's simply not the case. If 
you look at old covenant worship and the specifications with reference 
to the priesthood and with reference to the Ark of the Covenant, there 
were images. There was art. But it wasn't 
to be abused. It wasn't to be prostituted. 
It wasn't to be utilized in a manner that was inconsistent with the 
commandment. The priest's garment pictured pomegranates. That's 
a creature. That's something that they actually 
had to fabricate. to put on the priest's garments. 
The mercy seat in the Ark of the Covenant had two cherubim 
of gold on either end. God specifies, with reference 
to Moses and those Israelites that had been bitten by the fiery 
serpents, that he was to build that brazen serpent to erect 
it in the wilderness so that everybody who would look to it 
would live. But you see, even that good thing was later prostituted 
and utilized as an object of worship. I believe it was under 
Hezekiah, 2 Kings chapter 18. The people of Israel had turned 
that good thing into something bad by worshiping it. This text 
speaks to making carved images or the likeness of anything as 
representations of God or aids in the worship of God. So, it's 
not a prohibition against all art, it is rather a prohibition 
against anything that would represent God or anything that would be 
utilized in the worship of God. Is that everybody with me? You're 
tracking, good. Now, go to Deuteronomy chapter 
4 for just a moment because this emphasis comes out there very 
clearly as well. Deuteronomy 4 at verse 15. Take 
careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord 
spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire. Lest you 
act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of 
any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any 
animal that is on the earth, or the likeness of any winged 
bird that flies in the air. the likeness of anything that 
creeps on the ground, or the likeness of any fish that is 
in the water beneath the earth. And take heed, lest you lift 
your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and 
the stars, all the hosts of heaven, you feel driven to worship them 
and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the 
peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. But the Lord has 
taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt 
to be his people and inheritance as you are this day. Furthermore, 
the Lord was angry with me for your sakes and swore that I would 
not cross over the Jordan and that I would not enter the good 
land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 
But I must die in this land. I must not cross over the Jordan, 
but you shall cross over and possess that good land. Take 
heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord 
your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved 
image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden 
you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." 
So the prohibition involved in the commandment with reference 
to the making of idols speaks to making anything that represents 
God or aids in the worship of God. Now, secondly, let's explain 
that a little bit. The first commandment forbids 
the worship of Moloch. The first commandment forbids 
the worship of Asherah. The first commandment forbids 
the worship of Baal. The first commandment forbids 
the worship of ourselves. The first commandment forbids 
the worship of money. You shall have no other gods 
before me. That's the emphasis in the first 
commandment. describing to us who we are to 
worship. The second commandment forbids 
making an idol to represent the true God. And there are instances 
of that. You remember in Exodus chapter 
32, when Moses tarried from coming down the mountain, the people 
converged upon Aaron, And Aaron had them give him their gold 
items. He melts it down. He fashions 
a calf and he says, this is your God who led you out of the land 
of Egypt. Now, they didn't probably actually 
believe that was Yahweh, but they used that image to represent 
Yahweh. And they used that image in an 
expression of religious worship. That's what the second commandment 
forbids. worshipping the true God in a 
false manner, offering up strange fire to Yahweh, doing that which 
He has not commanded, engaging in the sorts of things that may 
obtain for the entertainment of people, but not for the worship 
of the true and living God. The point, idolatry is worshipping 
false gods or an attempt to worship the true God falsely. John Calvin 
says, to sum up, he wholly calls us back and withdraws us from 
petty carnal observances which our stupid minds, crassly conceiving 
of God, are wont to devise. Turretin says it is impossible 
and wicked to represent God by an image. It is to try and capture 
the infinite and make it into something that is finite, to 
take something that is omnipotent or rather omnipresent and localize 
it. It is an essentially an attempt 
to strip God of His glory and of His majesty and to domesticate 
him and tame him and to put him under our control. It is a wicked 
violation and the church needs to think seriously about the 
first and the second commandments. Obviously, we oppose abortion. Obviously, we oppose adultery. 
Obviously, we oppose that. We need to start opposing strange 
fire offered up to the living God. We need to start opposing 
the violation of the fourth commandment vis-a-vis remember the Sabbath 
day to keep it holy. These are moral laws as well. 
This is a revelation of who God is as well. And while we want 
to certainly maintain law and order with reference to second 
table offenses, we need to preserve law and order with reference 
to first table offenses. So much of what passes for worship 
is simply not. So much of what passes for the 
people of God gathering before God and worshiping him. It actually 
amazes me that God doesn't send fire out and consume a whole 
host of people the way that he does with Nadab and Abihu. Nadab 
and Abihu offered up strange fire unto the Lord, and the Lord 
sent fire down from heaven and consumed them, not their offering. We've got all manner of violation 
with reference to the regulative principle of worship going on 
unchecked. unchallenged today. We don't 
even think or ever even ask the question, what is it that God 
demands when it comes to worship? Now, there's a difference in 
terms of the regulative principle of worship, say, between our 
church and the Netherlands Reformed Church and the Free Reformed 
Church and the RCNA. I understand, but that's an intramural 
debate. At least all of us have asked 
the question, who determines what we do in the worship of 
the living and true God? Now, one communion may say psalms 
only, one may say no musical instruments. That's debates that 
we should have. I'm all for that. But at least 
the Reformed are singing off the same page in terms of what 
is called the regulative principle of worship. And we need to emphasize 
that, brethren. And that's what this commandment 
calls us to. Now, thirdly, in terms of the 
making of idols, there is a theological rationale behind this. I've already 
alluded to it. The doctrine of God, or what 
we call theology proper, demands the rejection of visible representations. Theology proper demands the rejection 
of visible representations. Again, Calvin says, the first 
part of the commandment restrains our license from daring to subject 
God, who is incomprehensible. Never forget that. We confess 
that in our Second London Baptist Confession of 1689. We confess 
with the church as a whole that God is incomprehensible. That 
doesn't mean we can't know anything about God. God in His grace has 
given us 31,000 propositions in the Old and the New Testaments. 
He has shown us much about Himself. But when it says that He's incomprehensible, 
we can't fully explore the divine essence. We will never get to 
the point where we have exhausted our study of God. We will never 
get to the point, say it's in 50 million years after we're 
in eternity, which there's no 50 million years when you're 
in eternity. Some of this is difficult to even conceptualize 
when you're talking about eternity. But just say for a moment, if 
we're there 50 million years, it's not going to be the case 
where we say, oh, now I know everything there is to know about 
God. That is an impossibility. His 
essence is known or comprehended by none but himself. And so in 
idolatry, this is what we're attempting to do. We're attempting 
to take the incomprehensible God and make him perfectly comprehensible 
to us. So back to Calvin. The first 
part of the commandment restrains our license from daring to subject 
God, who is incomprehensible, to our sense perceptions or to 
represent him by any form. What does Jesus teach us concerning 
God's being in John 4? God is spirit. The children's 
version of the shorter catechism says, can you see God? No, but 
he can always see me. Does God have a body like men? 
No, he does not have a body like men. God is spirit. We need to 
understand and appreciate that. So to try to capture that spirit 
and put it in a calf is to denigrate the doctrine of who God is. Ursinus says, One of the reasons 
why the second commandment is there, from the nature of God. 
God is incorporeal. That means He's without body. 
Whenever you hear that word, He is incorporeal, simply means 
He doesn't have a body. He is incorporeal and infinite. It is impossible, therefore, 
that He should be expressed or represented by an image which 
is corporeal and finite. The opposite of incorporeal and 
infinite is corporeal and finite without detracting from his divine 
majesty. So when we ask the question, 
why the second commandment? Because God is concerned with 
the way that creatures approach him and the way that creatures 
worship him. But God is also concerned for 
his own glory. And when you try to capture God 
and put him in an image, you are doing great disservice to 
who God is. Look at the prophet Isaiah for 
just a moment. Turn to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40 highlights 
the glory of God, the majesty and excellency of God. Much of 
what the prophet is going to do in the ensuing chapters is 
basically attack idolatry. He is going to show the futility 
of idolatry. He's going to show just how terrible 
it is. Why? Because his contemporaries were 
engaged in it. This is why the prophets preached 
against certain sins, is because the people were engaging in certain 
sins. The prophets functioned as God's 
prosecuting attorney. They would come on behalf of 
God, and they would sue the people. They would tell the people, here's 
your crime, here's your sin, here's your violation of the 
Ten Commandments, of the Decalogue, of of the moral law of God, you 
need to repent and you need to believe. You need to get your 
act together as it were. And so he is going to launch 
a great polemic on idolatry. But in chapter 40, he sets forth 
the glory, the majesty and the power of God Almighty. Notice 
in verse 12, who has measured the waters in the hollow of his 
hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the 
earth in a measure, weighed the mountains in scales and the hills 
in a balance? Who has directed the spirit of 
the Lord or as his counselor has taught him? With whom did 
he take counsel and who instructed him and taught him in the path 
of justice? Who taught him knowledge and 
showed him the way of understanding? See what he's saying? You don't 
have. The wherewithal or the ability or the position of superiority 
to put God subject to man. God is God. God is glorious. Notice in verse 18, to whom then 
will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare 
to him? The workman molds an image, the 
goldsmith overspreads it with gold, and the silversmith casts 
silver chains. Whoever is too impoverished for 
such a contribution chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks for 
himself a skillful workman to prepare a carved image that will 
not totter. Have you not known? Have you 
not heard? Has it not been told you from 
the beginning? Have you not understood from 
the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle 
of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers who stretches 
out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent 
to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing. 
He makes the judges of the earth useless." What's he saying? You 
idolaters in Israel, you idolaters that are aping the pagans around 
you, you idolaters that are following these heathen, worshiping their 
sticks and stones. Haven't you contemplated theology 
proper? Haven't you considered the doctrine 
of God? Haven't you considered his supremacy, his sovereignty, 
his majesty, his excellency and his glory? How are you going 
to try and domesticate him? How are you going to try to tame 
him? How are you going to try to take him who is incorporeal 
and infinite and make him corporeal and finite? That is a great sin 
against the living and the true God. Again, brethren, I think 
the church needs reformation in this particular area. As much 
as we want to maintain the second table, we need to be about this 
first table. Turn to Romans chapter one as 
well. Romans chapter one. Passages obviously dealing with 
idolatry, but you get what they're saying concerning the supremacy 
of God. This is why it is futile. This 
is why it is wrong. This is one of the reasons why 
idolatry is universally condemned in the scripture. Because it's 
an attempt to take God off His throne and put Him in a position 
where we can manage Him. Put Him in a position where we 
can tame Him. Put Him in a position where He 
is subject to us or subordinate to us. It's intriguing. God made 
us in His image, and ever since the fall, we have been desperately 
seeking to reform Him into our image. We don't like the supremacy, 
the sovereignty, the majesty of God, so we try to tame Him. We try to localize Him. We try 
to make Him more palatable for godless sinners. Notice in verse 
18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven 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, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood 
by the things that are made, even His 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. One of the 
commentators, one of the theologians, I think it may have been Perkins, 
discusses how Rome does exactly that. Rome does precisely what 
verse 23 tells us the heathen nations around Israel were doing. It says, they changed the glory 
of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible 
man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 
There is Roman Catholic art which depicts God as an old man with 
a long beard. In that same picture, there's 
a sheep, a lamb, which is to image Jesus Christ, and then, 
of course, a dove, which is to image the Holy Spirit. We're 
not supposed to do that. We're not supposed to try to 
represent the living and the true God, and that brings us 
to the fourth observation under making idols, its application 
to the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the argument goes, we're 
not docetists. Docetists denied the physicality 
of Jesus. They say he only appeared to 
be a man. He wasn't really a man. He was 
sort of a phantom. He was sort of ethereal. He was 
there, but he wasn't really a man because they were gnostic in 
nature, which meant they denied the goodness of the physical. 
I don't want to get too much down that road, but some will 
say, well, we have to image Jesus or picture Jesus to some degree 
or other, because we're not docetists. He was a real man. But we need 
to understand what scripture says concerning this particular 
application of the second commandment to our Lord Jesus Christ. In 
the first place, the second commandment unequivocally forbids making 
any likeness to represent deity. It does that. You shall not make. 
You shall not try to capture God in an image. You shall not 
try to represent deity. The Westminster Larger Catechism 
109, with reference to this commandment, says the making any representation 
of God of all or any of the three persons. Now, this next point, 
I want to say carefully, I want to say it gingerly, but I think 
it needs to be said. What does scripture emphasize 
with reference to Jesus' physical appearance? It pretty much underscores, 
again, I don't want to be called a heretic here, but his unattractiveness. He has no form or comeliness 
that we should look upon him. He didn't walk around with the 
halo and the beautiful flowing garment. He didn't have that 
sort of a thing. If you walked by him in the street, 
you wouldn't say, wow, that's a particularly handsome man. 
Maybe he's the second person of the Trinity. You just wouldn't 
have done that. The prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 53, 
tells us, he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as 
a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness, 
and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire 
him. Turn to John 8 for just a moment. 
Again, I don't want to spend a moment or sermon on Jesus as 
an unattractive man. That's not the point. The point 
is, is that the scriptures do not highlight the physicality 
of Jesus as something that we ought to stand in awe of or bow 
down before. He was given a body. by God for 
the work of mediation. That is undeniable. But with 
reference to that body, with reference to that physical appearance, 
he has no form or comeliness. And when we see him, there is 
no beauty that we should desire him. There's nothing in it. And 
you know, you've got to be honest. If you've seen pictures of Jesus, 
and I'm not endorsing this, I'm preaching against it, but typically 
the pictures reflect the theology of the one who makes the picture. 
You've got sad, pathetic Jesus that has been painted in Roman 
Catholic art over the centuries. You've got jacked and ripped 
Jesus that the Watchtower Society shows us. There's a picture of 
Jesus coming out of the water after his baptism, the water's 
glistening on him, his hair is perfect, he's got big guns. That 
is not the emphasis in scripture. That is not what we're supposed 
to highlight or focus on. And in John 8, I want us to consider 
something interesting here. Verse 54, Jesus is in dialogue, 
heated dialogue, confrontation, really, with the religious leaders 
of his time. Verse 54, if I honor myself, 
my honor is nothing. It is my father who honors me, 
of whom you say that he is your God. Yet you have not known him, 
but I know him. And if I say I do not know him, 
I shall be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. 
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it 
and was glad. Beautiful statement, isn't it? Your father Abraham 
rejoiced to see my day. Jesus Christ, my day, and he 
saw it and was glad. Now notice their response in 
verse 57. Then the Jews said to him, you 
are not yet 50 years old. And have you seen Abraham? Now 
that's an intriguing statement. There was a time many years ago, 
I had the privilege of teaching some young kids. And when I first 
met these young kids, I said, you know, just kind of trying 
to break the ice and build a rapport or whatever. I said, how old 
do you think I am? And I was probably 30, 35 at 
the time. And oh, 55, 60. I thought, wow, 
I'm not aging very well, am I? Jesus is 30, 31, 32, 33 at this 
point. You're not yet 50 years old. 
I mean, as a man of sorrows and one acquainted with grief, perhaps 
he wasn't jacked Jesus that the watchtower society presents. 
I'm not suggesting he's sad, pathetic Jesus that the Roman 
Catholic Church presents either. He was a normal, ordinary man 
when he traversed the streets in Israel. And then thirdly, 
The Bible highlights his unique person. You cannot capture this 
by image. We know that Jesus is the second 
person of the Trinity. We know that he did assume our 
humanity with all the essential properties and the common infirmities 
thereof. Had we lived in Israel in the 
first century, we would have seen him. But to try and picture 
him now, we are going to picture half a Jesus, not a whole Jesus. Our confession of faith in chapter 
eight, paragraph two, tells us what we call the hypostatic union. It tells us so that two whole 
Perfect and distinct natures were inseparably joined together 
in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion, which 
person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator 
between God and man. See, when we try to picture Jesus 
or make a statue of Jesus, at best we get half of Jesus. But even then, it's not because 
we don't know what he looked like. He had no form or comeliness. 
When we see him, we don't desire him. There's nothing about him 
that says, hey, we should make a picture. We should make a statue. We should bow down to it. We 
should use it in our religious worship. Thomas Watson makes 
this observation at this point. He says, it is Christ's Godhead 
united to his manhood that makes him to be Christ. You don't get 
half of Christ. You don't get half of Jesus. 
He came down for us men and for our salvation. There is a hypostatic 
union, the two natures in the one person. But at best, when 
we make an image or when we make a picture, we are depicting but 
one of the natures, the physical, the human. He says, therefore, 
to picture his manhood when we cannot picture his Godhead is 
a sin because we make him to be but half Christ. We separate 
what God is joined. We leave out that which is the 
chief thing, which makes him to be Christ. You can't do that. Now, the argument goes as well, 
well, there are ignorant people, people that can't read, people 
that can't follow sermons, people that need pictures. You look 
at our particular generation, it's image-based. Isn't it intriguing 
that we've gone from Facebook to Twitter and now Instagram? 
I mean, we don't write anymore. We just click a picture and post 
it on there. What better medium for this visually driven age 
than to picture Jesus to try to win the masses? absolutely 
positively wrong. It is a violation of the second 
commandment. We are rather supposed to instruct 
people and teach people and tell people what the truth of the 
scripture says. If they are slow, if they are 
ignorant, if they are not the brightest bulbs in the chandelier, 
then we slow down We use small words and we teach them. We don't 
show them images and pictures because those images and pictures 
are a violation and a transgression of the law of God. The ends do 
not justify the means. Well, we're going to do whatever 
it takes to reach the centers for Jesus, the Jesus film, the 
passion of the Christ. Look at how many people will 
come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as a result. It's wrong. If God 
says don't make images that depict deity, we're not supposed to 
do it, even if it allegedly works. That is an argument from pragmatism, 
not an argument rooted and grounded in the Word of the living and 
true God. We simply do not have the prerogative to reformulate 
the commandment to fit this visual age. Do you realize that in the 
first century, there was a lot of media as well? Not Facebook 
and Twitter and Instagram, but drama and mimes and plays and 
all those sorts of things. Wouldn't it have been the best 
way for a drama team to go out and take the stage and enact 
the passion of Jesus to win sinners? No. In the wisdom of God, the 
world through wisdom did not know God. It pleased God through 
what? The foolishness of the message 
preached to save those who believe. What's the argument from Deuteronomy 
4? When you were at Horeb, you saw 
no form. You heard the voice of God. Our 
religion is word-based, it is revelatory in nature, it is God-speaking, 
it is God-disclosing, it is God-manifesting, it is God-revealing. He doesn't 
do that through pictures, he doesn't do that through sculpture, 
he doesn't do that through art. Well, then we hear in the context 
of the discussion, well, what will the artists in our church 
do? Let them paint pictures of birds, as long as they don't 
call it God. Let them paint landscapes. Let 
them sculpt political heroes, as long as they don't bow down. 
Maybe that's not the best one, but we have to give them an outlet. 
And if their gift or their skill set is in painting, well, we 
should use that for the glory of God. There's a second commandment 
that tells us not to. It's like that discussion on 
women preaching. Brethren, they're not supposed 
to preach. It's that easy. 1 Timothy 2. I do not permit 
a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. Period. Full stop. Why are we having 
this debate? Why is it even an issue? Why 
is MacArthur railed at? when he tells Beth Moore to go 
home. She should go home. She should 
make her husband a sandwich once she gets home. That is far preferable 
than to preach the word of the living God if God has forbidden 
it. The ends do not justify the means. We have to pursue the means with 
the God-wrought means that he has given. Brethren, we are simply 
not allowed to do this. But intriguingly, this is precisely 
not but, and this is precisely what scripture says. Turn to 
Galatians 3. Speaking about images of Jesus 
being common books for the people that are ignorant, those images 
being helpful for those who perhaps are not able to follow discourse 
and logic and reason and all that sort of thing. Brethren, 
it's imperative that preachers, pastors, evangelists, speak to 
their audience in the manner in which they can receive that. 
I realize some of this stuff, at times, goes over the head. 
But the task of a preacher is to put the hay out there so everybody 
can eat, at the lowest level, at the highest level. But the 
median should be reached. It should be sort of in the middle, 
where everybody gets a bit of the hay, everybody gets a bit 
of the scratch, everybody gets a bit of the food that is offered 
for that. But in terms of this argument, 
well, they need images. visual people need to see these 
things. Look at Galatians 3.1. Oh foolish Galatians, who has 
bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose 
eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? Paul doesn't mean through the 
Jesus film. Paul doesn't mean through the 
film The Passion of the Christ. He doesn't mean through Bible 
series on whatever network happens to be showing it. It's through 
preaching. It is the crucifixion of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. It is His life, His death, His 
resurrection that is clearly portrayed before your eyes through 
the preaching of the gospel. I think there's a lot of responsibility 
on hearers to think properly as they receive the Word of God. 
But I also think there's a great deal of responsibility on preachers' 
exegetical skill to lead out of the text what the Spirit intended, 
but as well to make it consistent, logically formatted, such that 
persons can receive that. When you think about the Apostle 
Paul preaching to people, More often than not, he was preaching 
to people who were not as smart as him. Paul was a brilliant 
man. Saul of Tarsus was a very accomplished 
man. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He was a man that knew the Old 
Testament scripture inside and out. And yet he comes to these 
villages, he comes to these small cities, he comes to people that 
don't have his level, his skill, his ability. So what does he 
do? He clearly portrays Christ crucified to them in preaching 
that they can understand, that they can get their minds wrapped 
around. Again, I think there's a lot of emphasis with reference 
to the responsibility of preachers to make the Word of God plain. to make it such that persons 
can understand it. Perkins says, the image also 
of the cross and Christ crucified ought to be abolished out of 
churches as the brazen serpent was. He then goes on to say, 
if any man yet be desirous of images, he may have at hand the 
preaching of the gospel, a lively image of Christ crucified. See, 
they didn't turn to, well, we've got to have images, we've got 
to have pictures, we've got to have stories, we've got to have 
flannel grass, we've got to do all this stuff to try to reach 
the ignorant among us. No, they preach. They preach 
Christ and Him crucified. Or Sinus again says, God will 
have His people taught, not by dumb images, but by the lively 
preaching of His word. Neither does faith come from 
the sight of images, but by the hearing of the word of God. So that's the first part of the 
prohibition. We are not going to finish the 
sermon tonight. The Lord willing, we're going to wrap it up in 
about five minutes and we'll revisit the second commandment 
in two weeks time because, God willing, next Sunday night we 
will have the supper. But in terms of The prohibition, 
you're not supposed to make idols, you're not supposed to obviously 
worship idols. It necessarily follows that if 
we are prohibited from making idols, we certainly may not worship 
idols. It also follows that if someone 
else makes the idols, we're not supposed to worship the idols. 
Remember that instance when the kingdom was divided. You had 
the northern tribes and the southern tribes. And Jeroboam, the son 
of Nebat, reckoned that if the people of the north go down to 
Jerusalem to worship at feast time, they may stay there. And 
so what does Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, do? He takes gold, 
and he fashions two calves, and he says, these are your gods 
who led you out of the house of Egypt. He fabricated, he manufactured, 
he made these gods to maintain political control and a religious 
hold upon the people in the north. Well, if somebody does that, 
we are not supposed to bow down to that. We are to guard against 
and not engage. Think Daniel at the time of Nebuchadnezzar, 
that big image that was constructed in the plains of Dura, probably 
the likeness of Nebuchadnezzar, probably a great big statue of 
Nebuchadnezzar. Commentators disagree, perhaps. 
Some say no. Others say yes. I'm of the mindset 
that it was. So what does Daniel do? Well, 
I'm subject to this civil authority. I need to bow down. to that image 
on the plains of Dura. No, we do not do that. Now, the 
Catholics are interesting. The Roman Catholics are interesting 
because they say this. Images are in common use in the 
Catholic Church. Again, if you were not brought 
up this way, it's probably hard to even quantify in your mind, 
but it is. I mean, it's all over the place. 
Everywhere you go, it's just, yeah, it's offensive. Images 
are in common use in the Catholic Church. The object of images 
is to set Christ, the Virgin, and the saints before our eyes. 
We do not worship the images themselves, the honor which we 
give these objects being referred to the persons whom they represent. 
We don't worship the actual image of Jesus. We worship Jesus, but 
this sort of aids us, or this sort of assists us. Interestingly, 
the very numbering of the Ten Commandments in the Catholic 
Bible differs from the way that we number them. They obliterate 
the Second Commandment. I mean, they don't take it out 
of there. They add it to the First Commandment, and then they 
split the Tenth Commandment, so you don't have Commandment 
number one, who do we worship? And commandment two, how do we 
worship? They sort of fold the two into 
one, and then they split the tent. So the numbering certainly 
is tilted in their favor, because there's not a direct prohibition 
vis-a-vis a commandment speaking or forbidding, rather, the manufacture 
of images. Turnitin, I think, answers this 
very well. He says, with reference to, I 
worship not this visible thing, but the divinity dwelling there 
invisibly. He says, neither would the Israelites 
have been idolaters to the golden calf, which they did not supposed 
to be God. For who can believe them to have 
been so stupid as to believe the work of their own hands? 
to be that of God who had led them out of Egypt. They intended 
merely to form for themselves a representation of Him that 
they might worship the true God in this image. That's the answer 
to that sort of tactic. Well, it's not the image, it's 
the divinity behind the image. Well, then why was God angry 
with the Israelites? Because Jeroboam, or rather Aaron 
specifically, called that golden calf, this is Yahweh, your God. 
That's precisely what they were doing. It is a violation of the 
second commandment. And may God grant us grace to 
see the importance of the first, the God that we are to worship, 
and the importance of the second, the way that we are to worship 
that God. Well, in conclusion, just a couple 
of things and then we'll close. First, the sin of idol-making. 
The sin of idol-making, in the first place, it obscures the 
glory of Almighty God. It really does make the invisible 
visible. It makes the incomprehensible 
comprehensible. It makes the omnipresent localized. It makes the spiritual physical. 
It is a rejection of the principle that Paul lays down in 2 Corinthians 
5, We walk by faith, not by sight. I guess when you have no faith, 
you need images. When you have no faith, you need 
statues. When you have no faith, you need 
those things. And that's why Roman Catholicism, 
not every single one, but certainly some, have that emphasis in their 
worship. Secondly, the image misleads 
man. Think about that argument that 
I dealt with earlier, that Christ is set before the Galatians, 
before their eyes, through preaching, not through images. If we go 
with images, they're gonna be bad teachers. Turn to the prophet 
Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 10. Jeremiah 10 verse 6, in as much 
as there is none like you, O Lord, you are great and your name is 
great in might, who would not fear you, O King of the nations? 
For this is your rightful due. For among all the wise men of 
the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like 
you, but They are altogether dull-hearted and foolish. A wooden 
idol is a worthless doctrine. It is not an effective communicator 
of the truth of who God is. So, idol-making obscures the 
glory of Almighty God. Idol-making misleads men. Thirdly, idol-making provokes 
the wrath of God Almighty. When we get to the reasons for 
the commandment, There are three. Who God is. He's a jealous God. 
And then there's a threat. He threatens to punish and judge 
those who engage in this activity. So to make idols is to provoke 
the wrath and fury of Almighty God. And then the image maker 
attempts, as we have said, to try and domesticate, to try and 
tame, ultimately to try and recreate God in man's image. Well, hopefully this will be 
an encouragement to us to guard our hearts and our minds with 
reference to worship, that as we enter into this place, it's 
not the case that we do whatever it is that we want. It's not 
the time of the judges when there was no king in Israel and everyone 
did what was right in their own eyes. I mean, to see some of 
modern evangelicalism and some of Pentecostalism and charismaticism, 
it feels like that. It feels like there is no God 
or there's no king because everyone's doing what is right in their 
own eyes. That is simply not our prerogative. 
Our prerogative, our duty, our responsibility is to worship 
God in the way that God has defined for us. The Reformed have called 
that the regulative principle of worship, it's a wonderful 
thing. We do nothing more, we do nothing less, and we do nothing 
else than what God has commanded in terms of worship. Now, ultimately, 
the way to God is not by having a proper understanding of the 
second commandment, though that's imperative. We should have a 
proper understanding of the commandment. The way to God is Jesus Christ. The way of salvation is faith 
in Christ. The way of salvation is looked 
at by Jesus in an analogous way with that serpent lifted up in 
the wilderness. As long as they utilized it for 
the purposes that God gave it, it was blessed and it was wonderful. 
When they were bit and they looked at that brazen serpent, They 
lived. Jesus says, just as that serpent 
was lifted up in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted 
up. What's the implication? Those who look, those who believe, 
those will live. So if you are not a believer 
here tonight, I exhort and encourage you to come to the Lord Jesus 
Christ, to believe on him, and then to worship God as God commands 
in his word. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your word, and we thank you for the clarity.