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the the place where god had placed them but in terms of our own situation so tonight we'll look at the first commandment which is exodus chapter 20 and verse 3. but i do want to read the chapter just to give us an overview so god spoke all these words saying 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 remember the sabbath day to keep it holy 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 cattle nor your stranger who is within your gates for in six days the lord made the heavens and the earth the sea and all that is in them and rested on a rest of the seventh day therefore the lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon 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 house you shall not covet your neighbor's wife nor his male servant nor his female servant nor his ox nor his donkey nor anything that is your neighbors now all the people witness the thunderings the lightning flashes the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking and when the people saw it they trembled and stood trembled and stood afar off then they said to moses you speak with us and we will hear but let not god speak with us lest we die and moses said to the people do not fear for god has come to test you and that his fear may be before you so that you may not sin so the people stood afar off but moses drew near the thick darkness where god was then the lord said to moses thus you shall say to the children of israel you have seen that i have talked with you from heaven you shall not make anything to be with me gods of silver uh gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves an altar of earth you shall make for me and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings your sheep and your oxen and every place where i record my name and i will come to you and i will bless you and if you make me an altar of stone you shall not build it of hume stone for if you use your tool on it you have profaned it nor shall you go up by steps to my altar that your nakedness may not be exposed on it amen well as we look at these ten commandments i mentioned last week that lutherans and roman catholics combine the first and second commandment and then they split the tenth commandment they have i think theological reasons for doing so but just so you know if you read literature outside of the protestant tradition you'll see a different numbering system in in the case of the ten commandments now the first four commandments deal specifically with god they deal with his worship his name and his day and then the latter six commandments deal with our duty toward men so we speak of the two tables of the law the first table is our duty toward god and then the second table is our duty toward man and then of course those commandments those tables are summarized by jesus by the entire biblical tradition under two main heads you shall love the lord your god with all your heart soul mind and strength and you shall love your neighbor as yourself so the first summarizes the first four commandments the second summarizes the latter six commandments now last week we didn't have time to go uh uh to continue on we finished it right about 9. so i just want to give you a few rules of interpretation for the ten commandments or the decalogue in other words how do we approach this body of legislation in the first place the law is perfect and binds everyone to full conformity remember that the moral law is not something that is conditioned by covenant it's not something conditioned by ethnicity but rather it is a revelation of god's will for his creatures so the moral law applies to every single creature that has ever lived or will ever live so the law is perfect and binds everyone to full conformity secondly the law is spiritual and reaches the understanding will affections and all other powers of the soul when jesus in the sermon on the mount says you have heard that it was said to to those of old but i say to you he's not correcting moses he's not strengthening moses he is rather correcting pharisaic misinterpretation the law of moses or the law of god as mediated by or through moses always spoke to the heart you weren't allowed to lust after men or women in the old testament just like you're not allowed to in the new testament you weren't allowed to hate people without cause and have a desire to kill them in your hearts in the old testament so jesus does not strengthen the law of moses but rather as i said he clears away the misinterpretation that had attached itself to the law of moses and then a third principle and most of the old reformed writers and even the westminster larger catechism gives this note where a duty is commanded the contrary sin is forbidden and where a sin is forbidden the contrary duty is commanded so for instance here we are told that you are to have no other gods so that is the prohibition instilled in the commandment but we can infer from that a positive aspect so tonight we're going to look at the prohibition of the commandment and then the positive aspects of the commandment when you see the sixth commandment for instance it says you shall not murder so of course we're not supposed to go out and end people's lives we're not supposed to go out and cut people's throats we're not supposed to go out and shoot people in the head but positively we're trying to promote the health of others we're trying to assist them and we're trying to aid them so that's what that means where a duty is commanded the contrary sin is forbidden and where sin is forbidden the contrary duty is commanded and then a fourth principle that under one sin or duty all of the same kind are forbidden or commanded for instance homosexuality is a seventh commandment violation this is what this principle means that under one sin or duty all of the same kind are forbidden or commanded so with reference to the ninth commandment you're not supposed to bear false witness any type of lying is subsumed underneath that particular commandment so that's what those divines meant when they said that so just some rules of thought when it comes to interpreting the ten commandments so as i said we have first a prohibition and then secondly the positive aspects of verse three notice you shall have no other gods before me in the first place this reference to other gods the meaning is not that god yahweh of israel is somehow endorsing or validating the existence of other gods that's not what he's doing he's speaking to a people that have lived in oppression in egypt the place where there was a multiple a multitude of gods not real ones of course but nevertheless those persons around them engaged in alliances with those gods or gave their worship or their heart to those gods so the nation of israel had been in a polytheistic society that means a multi-god society and so yahweh is telling them you shall have no other gods before me again it's not validating or confirming the existence of idols there is but one only the living in the true god but he's speaking to them in a way that they would understand as well they're going to head to the land of canaan remember they're at sinai here for 11 months they then enter into the wilderness a lot of them grumble and complain against yahweh god is not pleased with that particular generation so a multitude of them die and then on the plains of moab he rehearses again this law in deuteronomy chapter 5 to prepare them to go into the promised land so when they go into the promised land again they're going into a society that is much like egypt there's going to be a multitude of gods when they go into canaan there's going to be ashrae there's going to be baal there's going to be moloch there's going to be all these other gods that will be contending for or vying for their affection and their attention turn to deuteronomy chapter 7 for just a moment to see a concrete application of this principle in terms of holy war notice in deuteronomy 7. now please understand i'm not endorsing holy war in our new covenant setting this is an old covenant mandate god told the nation of israel they were to go into the land of canaan and they were to dispossess the land of the canaanites but notice the principle verse 1 when the lord your god brings you into the land which you go to possess and has cast out many nations before you the hittites and the gergeshites and the amorites and the canaanites and the perizzites and the hivites and the jebusites seven nations greater and mightier than you and when the lord your god delivers them over to you you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them you shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them you shall nor shall you make marriages with them you shall not give your daughter to their son nor take their daughter for your son for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods so the anger of the lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly but thus you shall deal with them you shall destroy their altars and break down their sacred pillars and cut down their wooden images and burn their carved images with fire so when they go into the land they're not to engage in political alliances you're not to engage in that you're not to engage in social alliances don't marry their sons don't marry their daughters and finally you're to engage and no religious alliances because god knows that when the children of israel go into the land when they are led astray they will be led from yahweh into the very arms of baal himself so back to the decalogue or back to the ten commandments with reference to the prohibition you shall have no other gods before me or before my face or besides me according to the margin in other words there must be no religious worship or service given to rival gods before yahweh that's probably what is intended here some of the older commentators suggest that the idea would be akin to the to the seventh commandment a man or a woman engaging in that activity in front of their married partner you shall have no other gods before me you shall not engage in idolatry under the omniscient eye of yahweh of israel so the westminster larger catechism understands it these words before me or before my face in the first commandment teach us that god who sees all things takes special notice of and is much displeased with the sin of having any other god that so it may be an argument to dissuade from it and to aggravate it as a most impudent provocation as also to persuade us to do as in his sight whatever we do in his service in other words it's given in terms of an incentive the lord god most high sees what you are doing turn to the book of proverbs for just a moment where you see that logic applied to the application of the seventh commandment i don't want to get too detailed here but we'll keep it surface level notice in proverbs chapter 7 i'm sorry proverbs chapter 5. proverbs chapter 5 the prohibition is against seventh commandment violations and then notice in verse 21 for the ways of man are before the eyes of the lord and he ponders all his paths his own iniquities entrap the wicked man and he is caught in the cords of his sin he shall die for lack of instruction and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray so it's a great impetus for us to consider the thought that we are in the presence of god and so we go back to that first commandment you shall have no other gods before me before my face there mustn't be any religious service or worship given to a rival god in the presence of yahweh now notice in terms of the sins forbidden as you move through the old testament and when we move into the new testament there's a whole host of sins condemned by this particular prohibition in the first place it's a denial of atheism obviously atheism is anti-god-ism and it is condemned by scripture in fact scripture tells us there's no true atheist according to paul in romans chapter one all men everywhere knows or know that god exists now they suppress that truth and unrighteousness they don't like that truth so uh the proverbs say or rather the psalms say that the fool has said in his heart there is no god so he's trying to argue and argue with himself in the sense of there is no god so atheism is condemned by god by this first commandment secondly what is else also condemned is polytheism having a multitude of gods and in this context it is very practical you shall have no other gods before me remember that the ten plagues inflicted by yahweh against the nation of israel was to render judgment not only upon pharaoh and egypt but upon the gods of egypt each one of those things each one of those plagues was a specific condemnation or judgment targeting a particular god that was held to by the egyptians so there were many gods the acknowledgement the worship and the service of a multitude of gods as well we might categorize here what's called syncretism now i know that's a word we don't use often but syncretism simply means a little bit of this and a little bit of that we have a bit of yahweh and we have a bit of baal we have a bit of yahweh and we have a bit of ashrae we have a bit of god in this new covenant situation but we really have a a lot of money whenever our hearts are divided or whenever we're trying to cover our bases as it were that is syncretism turn to second kings chapter 17 where you see that emphasized i've mentioned this the last two sunday mornings when we've considered that woman from samaria samaria had gone astray based on god's judgment of the northern tribes when assyria came to destroy the northern tribes they took some of the people away they exiled them and then they took other conquered peoples and put them in that particular region again it was a very ingenious way to conquer your enemies you put mountain people in a seacoast region you put sea people in a mountainous region you destabilize the population you get them off their game and they're a lot easier to control they're a lot more malleable but if you look at second kings chapter 17 notice at verse 24 then the king of assyria brought people from babylon kutha ava hamath and from safar vain and placed them in the cities of samaria instead of the children of israel and they took possession of samaria and dwelt in its cities and it was so at the beginning of their dwelling there that they did not fear the lord that's yahweh therefore the lord sent lions among them which killed some of them so they spoke to the king of a serious saying the nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of samaria do not know the rituals of the god of the land therefore he has sent lions among them and indeed they are killing them because they do not know the rituals of the god of the land now that's not an altogether bad idea i mean if there's lions munching people that you know and love it might not be a bad thing to cry out for some sort of a relief but the way that they pursue that relief is through syncretism will take a bit of yahweh enough to keep the lions at bay but will continue with our gods notice in verse 27 then the king of assyria commanded saying send there one of the priests whom you brought from there let him go and dwell there and let him teach them the rituals of the god of the land then one of the priests whom they had carried away from samaria came and dwelt in bethel and taught them how they should fear the lord 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 benoth the men of couth made nergal imagine having a god named nergal the men of hamath made ashima and the avites made nibhats and tartac and the sepharvites burned their children in fire to a dremelac and an amalek the gods of safar vain so they feared the lord no they didn't when you read that he's not being this isn't true he it's dripping with irony you don't do these sorts of in uh uh engage in that sort of idolatry all the while you fear yahweh and then it goes on to say 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 serve their own gods according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away so you see what they're doing they want enough true religion to deal with the lion problem but they don't want the true religion they just want alleviation from hardship and from difficulty that was their problem turn over to the prophet zephaniah zephaniah one of the minor prophets hosea joel amos obadiah jonah micah naam habakkuk zephaniah in zephaniah chapter one you see another illustration of this syncretism more often than not that was the sin that israel was engaged in it's not typically the case where they absolutely swear off yahweh and go down the road of idolatry not that they would have never done that or do had hadn't done that but typically it was yahweh plus these other gods so notice in zephaniah 1 specifically at 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 oaths by the lord but who also swear by milk on those who have turned back from following the lord and have not sought the lord nor inquired of him notice that these are persons that mix the worship of other gods with the worship of yahweh of israel so going back to exodus 20 and the prohibition of the first commandment certainly atheism is condemned secondly polytheism is condemned also syncretism as a form of polytheism so a little bit of our god and a little bit of that god in order to get what it is that i want thirdly the practice of idolatry flat out the two fur or the first two commandments go hand in hand you can't have one without the other the first commandment defines the object of worship and the second commandment defines the manner that is appropriate to worship in other words the first commandment tells who we are to worship and the second commandment tells us how we are to worship him if we mess up on either one of those we engage and idolatry so it can be the case where someone professes faith in the true and living god and yet because they worship him in a false way they are guilty of idolatry if they make for themselves idols that typify or rather represent or symbolize that living and true god god frowns on that remember that was the plan of uh of aaron when when the nation of israel was dancing around and they took off their earrings and they threw them into the the the the pot and out comes as as as aaron said and out came this calf no that's not what happened you fashioned this and you ascribe to this or predicated of it those things that are true of yahweh alone same thing happens at the the the the beginning of the northern kingdom jeroboam the son of nebat though he was a rach he wasn't an idiot and jeroboam the son of nebat knew that if the people of the north went down to jerusalem at feast times they might then remember that they were to serve the true and living god so what does jeroboam do he erects worship centers and he puts calves there and he tells the people of israel this is your god who led you out of the land of egypt so idolatry is condemned by the first commandment and the second commandment as well uh fourthly the practice of sorcery and witchcraft there are many places in the old testament and many places in the new testament that condemn sorcery and witchcraft those are condemned by god they're not good the occult is bad the occult is wretched there are those prohibitions given specifically in deuteronomy chapter 18 about the nation over israel turning to soothsayers or to witches or to necromancers in order to get divine aid or divine assistance and one of the things that one man has properly pointed out they weren't forbidden to do that because it didn't work they were forbidden to do that because it was an abomination before the living and the true god sometimes young people get enamored with the occult or with the black arts and they engage in ouija boards and those sorts of things that's not good the bible condemns that stuff that stuff is a gateway to the to to to evil and to wretchedness and and wickedness so in the old testament leviticus 19 deuteronomy 18 and then in acts chapter 19. remember when the gospel comes to ephesus what happens in ephesus the people who formerly engaged in black magic took all their books and burned them we see this condemnation of sorcery in the new testament text it's a word where we get our word pharmacy so they would use drugs in connection with black magic and occultism in order to conjure up spirits and things like that the bottom line is that those things are condemned by god most high in this first commandment you shall have no other gods before me as well the sin of heresy the sin of heresy thinking wrong thoughts about god when we don't think god's thoughts after him in anything it's bad when we especially don't think his thoughts after him as it pertains to him it is really bad durham says 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 aryans who make christ a maid 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 saints god's due in adoration or invocation or in a word whoever contradicts any truth or maintains any error 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 again we just live in a society where it's okay to think whatever you want well actually increasingly it's getting more difficult to think what you want if it's right but for the most part you have freedom to think what you will but not as a believer not as a christian you're supposed to understand god's word you're supposed to know who god is as he reveals himself in holy scripture turn to second peter chapter 3 for just a moment ii peter 3 18 it's a passage that i oftentimes cite you probably have heard me cite it in prayer or in preaching ii peter 3 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ that's a great positive admonition it's a great positive exhortation a great positive encouragement to the people of god grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ but notice verse 17 you therefore beloved since you know this beforehand beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness being led away with the error of the wicked what what tends to happen if we're not growing in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ we're gonna be led away with the error of the wicked see verse 18 is a corrective to the problem of verse 17. so just mentioning the sin of heresy citing james durham who's got a commentary on the ten commandments and this all heretics that deny the godhead of any of the persons as sibelians who make but one person or aryans who make christ a made god brethren that's the kind of stuff we face in the church today persons that don't have any clue concerning their great triune god and so you shall have no other gods before me calls us to doctrinal precision not for doctrinal precision sake but so that we may know thee the only true god and jesus christ whom thou has sent in john 8 24 jesus says if you do not believe that i am you will die in your sins so again the emphasis isn't just be doctrinally sound because then your elders and deacons will be happy now be doctrinally sound because you need to know the god that you confess you need to know the god that you worship you need to know the god that you hold alliance to and then a final observation in terms of you shall have no other gods before me turn to romans chapter 1 for just a moment romans 1 i think underscores a sin that is most prevalent today i mean i think the whole catalog of vices that paul gives in romans 1 does have application to to to our particular situation as it has throughout the ages but if you look at chapter 1 specifically at verse 18 for the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men there is a particular order there just like there is in the ten commandments where does the ten commandments start it starts with god not with us right as important as we are and as snow flaky as we are the ten commandments don't start with us neither does the lord's prayer where does it start it starts with god right when you look at this for the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against notice all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men what we think about god affects how we live in this world that's paul's emphasis here so it's ungodliness those who don't think god's thoughts after him in terms of who god is those who are heretics those who are idolaters those who are engaged in the worship of other gods so the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men now he's going to deal with ungodliness and then he'll turn to the unrighteousness of men so that catalog of vices is what we would call the unrighteousness of men look at for instance verses 24 well verses 26 and following for this reason god gave them up to vile passions for even their women exchange the natural use for what is against nature likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burning their lust for one another men with men committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due and even as they did not like to retain god in their knowledge remember ungodliness god gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting being filled with all unrighteousness sexual immorality wickedness covetousness maliciousness full of envy murder strife deceit evil mindedness they are whisperers back fighters haters of god violent proud boasters inventors of evil things disobedient to parents undeserving or undiscerning untrustworthy unloving unforgiving unmerciful who knowing the righteous judgment of god that those who practice such things are deserving of death not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them see those are acts of unrighteousness right but before that look at what he says against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men so let's look at what it looks like to be ungodly and again he's not using this in terms of practical wickedness he's using this in terms of what we believe relative to the true and living god so notice 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 his eternal power in 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 see we look at a society like we see in canada today and we say we got a big sexual sin problem yeah we do but that's symptomatic of a god problem that's symptomatic of an ungodlyness problem that's symptomatic of a person of a of a people group who have eliminated god from their thinking just like he says in verse 20 28 and even as they did not like to retain god and their knowledge what does society look like when you don't want to retain god and your knowledge well it looks like what paul shows us here and it looks like what we are witnessing in our in our society but notice 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 that's the problem that's why we preach the gospel if sinners are conferred converted by the grace of god they begin to think about god they begin to live in light of who god is then the idea is is that it hopefully cleans up some of the unrighteous acts that follow in this particular passage but then notice in verse 22 professing to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptable god into an image made like corruptable man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things we are witnessing creature worship ad nauseam today i mean if you don't see that if you don't see this celebration of climate change brethren god made the earth fully knowledgeable there would be an industrial revolution god made the earth fully knowledgeable that man would use fossil fuels god did that for his glory and for the good of his creatures but now we can't do those things we would rather worship the creature rather than the creator i'm not saying we abuse the earth we trash the earth but we exercise responsible stewardship notice what he says in verse 24 therefore god also gave them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves now look at verse 25 who exchanged the truth of god for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever amen this is a big problem in our current situation in terms of creature worship where something other than god gets our time our talents and our energy fisher said 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 it's a very scary statement and one that we should take notice of and one that we should by grace seek to regulate in terms of our own conduct now in terms of the ways in which the command is broken the thoughts the fool has sat in his heart there is no god psalm 14 verse 1. perhaps you've seen the uh the bumper sticker bumper stickers aren't as popular as they were a few years ago but but i i remember seeing one that said the the the atheists uh the atheist holiday is april 1st you know april fool's day the fool has sat in his heart there is no god so in the thoughts we can break this command i mean we may be verbally orthodox we may be at the right church but if anything other than god gets our time our talents our energies more than god does we're in sin we need to repent as well our words betray this as well in exodus 23 you're right there you can look at exodus chapter 23 specifically at verse 13 and in all that i have said to you be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods nor let it be heard from your mouth turn to the book of malachi the prophet malachi the last book of the old testament malachi chapter 3 verses 13 to 15. malachi 3 13 your words have been harsh against me says the lord 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 we can sin this sin in our thoughts we can sin this sin with our words and then turn to matthew chapter 6 we can send this sin with our deeds and probably a particular passage that all of us in an affluent situation should really take notice of is matthew chapter 6. jesus doesn't condemn hard work jesus doesn't condemn money-making do you see a man who excels in his work he'll stand before kings that's what solomon tells us in the proverbs it's not wrong to work hard it's not wrong to make money it's wrong to worship money or it's wrong to be overtly devoted to money when god is getting slighted in the transaction notice in matthew chapter 6 at verse 19 do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break it and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also the lamp of the body is the eye if therefore your eye is good your whole body will be full of light but if your eye is bad your whole body will be full of darkness if therefore the light that is in you is darkness how great is that darkness no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other you cannot serve god and mammoth again it's not a condemnation he's not saying live on love and fresh air live under a bridge bang on a tambourine and beg for you know beg for enough pennies each day to buy a a hot dog that's not what he's saying there is the sense wherein our attentions are our attention is given to something that is not god that's what is obviously condemned there's a great statement by c.s lewis it's on proverbs 30 or it's in the context of proverbs 30. i'm not trying to harp on the do-re me here but it's one that i think is applicable living in north america but solomon or aeger makes this comment in proverbs chapter 30 verse seven two things i request of you deprive me not before i die remove falsehood and lies far from me give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with the food allotted to me lest i be full and deny you and say who is the lord or lest i be poor and steal and profane the name of my god it's a great thing right neither poverty nor riches if i'm poor i'm going to go out and steal a ham if i'm rich i'm going to forget god so give me neither so that i can maintain again god in his mercy if he blesses a man richly typically floods him with the grace is necessary i mentioned spurgeon a few weeks ago i don't know of every you know every minister could could handle a 5 000 member church i just don't know that every guy has that well if god's going to give you a 5 000 member church he's going to give you the grace of humility and the ability to be able to deal with that same with wealth same with poverty some people can deal with it because god blessed them but with reference to c.s lewis he says prosperity knits a man to the world he feels that he is finding his place in it well really it is finding its place in him so that's just a caution in light of the mammon prohibition in matthew chapter 6 in verse 24. so in terms of the prohibition of the commandment the various sins that are mentioned and the various ways in which the command is broken let's look quickly and secondly at the positive aspects of the command in other words if you shall have no other gods before me all these things are condemned positively what should we take away from a study of this particular commandment in the first place we need to know god but grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ this includes a knowledge of the doctrine of the trinity that's why we spend time teaching on the doctrine of the trinity in our confession study why we're looking at that in uh john's gospel as we're moving through that in an expository manner because that's who god is remember the woman at the well jesus essentially says to her the samaritans were wrong the jews were right the christians are better because we have this knowledge that god is spirit and those who worship must worship him in the holy spirit according to the truth who is jesus christ our lord so we need to know god the knowledge of the doctrine of the trinity the knowledge of the perfections of it of god we need to know something about who he is what does the bible say about god he's spirit infinite eternal and unchangeable in his being wisdom power holiness justice goodness and truth we want to know that we want to understand that and learn that and then the knowledge of god's external works those things that he has done he made the world and all things in it he engages in providence he upholds all things by the word of his power and then redemption the salvation of his people we need to know this god you shall have no other gods before me the me there is absolutely crucial that we understand and know him secondly the love of god turn over to deuteronomy chapter six deuteronomy chapter six you have what's called the shema and shama is simply the verb hear or listen in in hebrew and so in deuteronomy 6 at verse 4 you have the central confession of israel's faith and then verse 5 is the response that israel is supposed to give in light of that confession of faith so notice in verse 4 hear o israel the lord our god the lord is one this is a theological confession the lord uh hear o israel the lord our god the lord is one john gill says the doctrine of which is that the lord who was the covenant god and father of his people israel is but one jehovah he is jehovah the being of beings a self-existent being eternal and immutable and he is but one in nature and essence this appears from the perfection of his nature his eternity omnipotence omnipresence infinity goodness self-sufficiency and perfection for there can be but one eternal one omnipotent one omnipresent one infinite and that is originally and of himself good one self and all sufficient and perfect being and which also may be concluded from the uh from his being the first cause of all things which can be but one and from his relations to his creatures as their king ruler governor and law giver it's a theological confession but notice it's a personal confession look at verse 4 hear o israel the lord notice our god this is a personal confession for the nation of israel with reference to their covenant god it is similar to what we find in the new testament remember when thomas lays eyes on the resurrected christ he says my lord and my god the apostle paul describes jesus in galatians 2 20 as the one who loved me and gave himself for me as well this is a practical confession hear o israel the lord our god the lord is one that is with all the powers and faculties of the soul we respond to this living and true god and as well it's a logical confession this god brought them out of the land of egypt he is their living and true god therefore we confess him now notice the response in verse 5 you shall love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength now this command to love god is all throughout the old testament it's certainly all throughout the new testament as well god is love he calls us to love him he gives us the grace such that we can love him in fact the apostle says we love him because he first loved us so this is the reflex we believe the gospel of our lord and savior jesus christ and we love god we love father son and holy spirit in terms of the manner of compliance same sort of thing thoughts words deeds we express our love one man christopher wright says to love god then with all your heart and with all your soul means with your whole self including your rationality mental capacity moral choices and will inner feelings and desires and the deepest roots of your life and of course this is the greatest of the commandments so we have this knowledge of god we have this love of god and then thirdly the fear of god now when we talk about the fear of god as i've tried to explain there's the hide under the table sort of fear and then there is a reverence for god there is in a sense a need to have a hide under the table sort of fear that's how israel responds to god and it's not always bad but typically the emphasis falls on this reverence this awe this respect given to god so the fear of god flows from a recognition of who he is his being and his perfections a broccoli says if the soul may perceive god in his majesty glory and holiness it cannot but be that the soul will tremble out of respect for god see brethren i think that that's why there may possibly be at times a lack of the fear of god in our churches because there's a lack of the knowledge of god if we know who god is then it will hopefully frame our hearts are right so that we will esteem him we will revere him we will respect him brock goes right on if the soul may perceive god in his majesty glory and holiness it cannot but be that the soul will tremble out of respect for god in other words when we see him in his awesome glory there is this consistent response in terms of fear the fear of god that is in view is filial not servile it's not the running from god but rather it's the running to god with that respect and with that reverence john murray said the fear of god in us is that frame of heart and mind which reflects our apprehension of who and what god is and who and what god is will tolerate nothing less than total commitment to him again that's the idea get this understanding of who god is in order to respond to god properly that's why there's so much emphasis in the bible on who god is remember the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all on godliness and unrighteousness of man whatever we think concerning god will affect us for good or ill if we think good and right thoughts about god hopefully it frames our heart of right so that we live in a manner that's consistent with that but if we throw off the knowledge of god we don't like to retain god in our thoughts well then our conduct will follow along along with that and we'll live in a manner that is utterly devoid of any conscious fear of the living and true god now in terms of the fear of god it is ultimately a great a consequence of the grace of god it was john newton that taught us in the hymn it was grace that taught my heart to fear but john newton didn't develop that thought john newton got it from jeremiah the prophet jeremiah 32 40 promise of the new covenant and i will make an everlasting covenant with them that i will not turn away from doing them good but i will put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from me it's not newton that came up with that it's god through the prophet now of course fourthly the necessity of obedience to god this holds true in the new covenant as well jesus said if you love me you will what you will keep my commandments you will not live as antinomians you will not throw off the law of god you'll not say we're no longer under under under law but under grace so we can go out and do whatever it is that we want the emphasis in first john repetitively is on obedience it's on righteousness it's on doing what god commands us fifth the necessity of trust in god right if we understand who this god is then we ought to be able to trust him that's the point in matthew chapter 6. he says you can't serve god and mammon but as a sort of addendum to that mammon can't see you through the hardships and the difficulties of this world the sovereign god most high can he is able he is capable and he is competent so we certainly trust in god as a result of having this confession of faith in him and then finally the proper worship of god when we have this understanding when we come into his presence with that fear and trembling and joy we worship him in spirit and in truth and we do so in a manner that is consistent with who he reveals himself to be well in conclusion just a few thoughts and then we'll go first the universal condemnation of idolatry in the bible you cannot read the bible and say god's okay with all these religions he's not at all there is not one place in all of scripture where you can go to validate this concept that all roads lead to heaven they don't jesus said i am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me god condemns idolatry you see it in deuteronomy well you see it all throughout the old testament you see an emphasis in the the prophet isaiah he takes up uh uh polemics against idolaters and idolatry you see it in the new testament remember paul his spirit is provoked within him when he's in athens why because the city was given over to idols it was given over to idolatry so it's there at mars hill he says him you who you worship and ignorance him i proclaim to you and then of course you have romans 1 romans 1. we read some of that verses 18 to 32 and then first john 5. first john is such a wonderful document it's all about faith in jesus it's all about love to jesus it's love to man it's the obedience to the to the truth it's truth it's an emphasis on that how does john end that first epistle my little children keep yourselves from idols it's the last thing john the apostle says in the first epistle see this isn't well this is for israel at sinai if you're thinking along with me there's a whole lot of things contending for our attention and affection there are a whole lot of things out there vying for all the affection that we can give we need to make sure that we take that admonition seriously and keep ourselves from idols i've quoted john stott this is from his commentary on on acts i think it's from the acts 17. i just think this is a wonderful sort of uh statement about idolatry not positively it's a great thing but listen i'd all idolatry whether ancient or modern primitive or sophisticated is inexcusable whether the images are metal or mental material objects of worship or unworthy concepts in the mind for idolatry is the attempt either to localize god confining him within the limits which we impose whereas he is the creator of the universe or to domesticate god making him dependent on us taming him whereas he is the sustainer of human life or to alienate god blaming him for his distance in silence whereas he is the ruler of nations and not far from any of us or to dethrone god demoting him to some image of our own contrivance or craft whereas he is our father from whom we derive our being in brief all idolatry tries to minimize the gulf between the creator and his creatures in order to bring him under our control more than that it actually reverses the respective positions of god and us so that instead of our humbly acknowledging that god has created and rules us we presume to imagine that we can create and rule god there is no logic in idolatry it is a perverse topsy-turvy expression of our human rebellion against god that's what we're seeing isn't it i mean if that doesn't say well that makes a lot of sense with the world that i'm witnessing that has thrown off everything that god has commanded i mean it's like this systematic attack on everything scriptural i i just think that we need to be aware of that secondly remember the uses of god's law we use the first commandment as a child tutor we use the first commandment to chasten our own soul we use the first commandment in the way that heidelberg catechism says number three how do you come to know your misery the law of god tells me if i get too proud or arrogant i should come back to the law and ask myself how am i doing with you shall have no other gods before me see it's not just the ashraes and the baals and the molochs and the satan and the demons it can be good things money's not a necessarily evil thing money is all moral money doesn't have a heart doesn't have a soul it doesn't have the ability it doesn't rob banks it doesn't cut people's heads off it doesn't get drunk it doesn't smoke crap money is just a thing it's how we use the money right family family is wonderful but if you worship your family instead of god work is wonderful but if you worship your work instead of god you see it can be subtle it can be something good that we put too much time too much energy and too much attention into it i'm not saying we treat everybody in our family like garbage because we're true christian diaz that's that's not what i'm suggesting at all but i'm suggesting that it's very easy to slide from the position of orthodoxy in terms of confession and practice to a place of sin and rebellion one man 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 a sinner i think he's right i think he's absolutely positively right and so when we survey these words and we see ourselves in light of those words and we understand that we have broken those words what is the remedy for needy guilty sinners it's the lord jesus christ the pedagogical use of the law is to drive us to show us our need for the redeemer and we go to him for forgiveness we go to him for cleansing we go to him for mercy and for grace and we go to him as well for the spirit that proceeds from the father and the son such that we can go out and live in a manner that is consistent with that first commandment but again if we falter if we stumble if we fail we go back to that fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness and in terms of the normative use how do we use you shall have no other gods before me in a positive way as blood-bought christians who have the spirit well in the first place we'll reject false gods first john 5 21 little children keep yourselves from idols that ought to be imperative secondly we'll have an allegiance to the creator rather than to the creature again not that we disregard the creature not that we disdain or destroy creature but rather we understand the difference we're not supposed to worship the earth we're not supposed to worship mother nature we're supposed to worship the living and true god exercise responsibility in stewardship of the earth that he has entrusted to us but when we invert the order and we put the earth first and then god or no god we've gotten it wrong as well the cultivation of the knowledge of god the cultivation of the knowledge of god this positive admonition to grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ if we're to be aware of or keep ourselves from idols and if there are a whole host of ways for us to break this commandment it is imperative that we understand who god is and live in light of that as well a manifestation of love to fear of trust in and worship of the true and living god that's how we use the command positively in terms of our christian life by the power of the holy spirit well let us pray our father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for the clarity of the first commandment it's so obvious that we shall have no other gods before you we pray that you would help us to be faithful help us to maintain strict alliance with you alone and help us to take that admonition seriously little children keep yourselves from idols i thank you for this church i thank you for all the brothers and the sisters here i thank you for the confession of faith that we have as well this good understanding a good accurate summary of what the scripture teaches concerning who you are and what you do we ask now that you would bless us as we go from here we pray that you'd watch over the entire congregation bless whim and chris and linda and and wayne and audrey dealing with the water situation in their homes we just pray that you would grant them help and grace and god protect those who have lost so many things protect those who are still in danger of flooding protect those god and god who have who have suffered much and we just pray these things through jesus christ our lord amen any questions or comments about any of that prohibition positive [Applause] of god in but the perspective of the love of god is a hollywood love it's emotion it's strictly that love true love is an emotion you know morality as well how do you gauge it he says well my philosophy is love it's love and i think to myself yeah unfortunately the answer i had at that time wasn't very good but i realized today and the problem is is your love is in a notion but you don't realize that love loves the truth and truth is love in church we look at this new god which is love okay it does not go back to a thrice holy god a god is perfect and holy and can't even look upon sin with his eye it's staggering and because of that even the gospel message is all messed up and i i can't help but think when arsenal's full when a woman came up to him and says arcee my god's not like that my god is a god of love and grace and mercy and he was such and it's shocking when you talk to brothers or sisters in the lord is like dude you've got a problem with your foundation that's why you're so far off to the right or to the left and i think that's that's and more even more dangerously because god is love it's not i mean it's when you you you are imbalanced or over balanced or you you use one attribute of perfection to the negation of all others so so yeah i mean who wants to argue when somebody says god is love well yeah john says that first john chapter four he tells us that very you know unequivocally but there's a lot like you said it's not emotion it's not arbitrary it's not you know sort of this capriciousness it's based on objectivity in terms of who god is and his being but then as well he's not he he's a whole lot of other perfections also and so typically this this love of god is capitalized again to the negation of justice and righteousness and holiness and like you said the you know this concept of the love of god that is so so so so uh popular doesn't lead back to the thrice holy god thundering from sinai it's some you know kindly old man with a long beard and a cane that only ever wants to do good for you imagine an analogy for a moment because people don't think about it the problem is is that when they look at in john three states where god so loved the world exactly the description is that of this god with his great beard looking down with grace and mercy and he's just so happy and often they'll say think about this for a second um this god is suspending his grace and mercy if an individual shall perish and stand before him okay what's it going to be like the individual find out very rapidly that he is completely non-compatible there's a big problem when the single creature gets into the presence of a holy god it's not pleasant you know i think it was you jim that pointed out when uh moses abraham when he went into a deep dark trance when uh before [Music] or came into the presence of a thrice holy god and isaiah isaiah 6 what was me for i am undone he doesn't say hey buddy how is it going and that that's the concept typically communicated when we strip god of all other perfections he's just a cosmic genie that only exists to do us good it's so man-centered it's so contrary to scripture and yet it's so rampant that when you challenge that that sort of fundamental position people look at you like you're nuts and then when we now look at the love of god in the context with that holy god in mind we realize now that the incredible love of god is being expressed because of the work of christ god is saying i'm going to save you from myself through my son that's right yeah arguably they they haven't even begun to scratch the surface of how good god's love is when you strip him of his other perfections and when you only have sort of that emotional love it it doesn't it's not as glorious it's not as wondrous that's right sounds very like oh yeah yeah no that that is the forgotten part yeah in first corinthians 13. yeah just to quickly add to what i said um i would just quickly note that in my mind get this perfect for mars and once again because i understand if you're talking to an evangelical and they're talking about that sort of aladdin genie kind of idolatrous thought again based on my research and just thinking about this a lot that is fundamentally post-modern because he said that's so man-centered well more specifically that is a jet-setting of the classical categories with which the church has talked about god for basically outputs about five minutes ago so the idea is that at that point you're not just talking to idolatrous people you're talking to people who don't even have a metaphysical foundation for objectivity in the first place uh in order to say this is right and this is wrong you're not thinking in right wrong they're thinking it feels good it doesn't feel good yeah that's right so so there's there's huge problems there not just but as has been emphasized here it starts with idolatry but it completely corrupts the mind yeah it turns you into an incoherent person and it produces all this matter of wretchedness as we saw from this woman yeah it never does good but it never does a soul good to throw off god no one ever wins no one ever what's that or a society yeah you don't you don't get better as a result that's for sure