INTRODUCTION
• Priorities. In the hustle and bustle of life it is sometimes difficult to keep our priorities in the right order.
• Most of us live a pretty fast paced life. It is so easy to get caught up in the daily grind of making a living and raising a family that we can very easily forget what is important in life. It is easy to lose focus. In the past the focus of people’s lives was taking care of the basic needs in order to survive, today we spend more of our time in the pursuit of keeping the stuff we have accumulated.
• When we get our priorities mixed up it is like working a job and forgetting why we are there and who the boss is. We get in trouble on the job when we forget why we are there and who the boss is. When we forget those two things, we become non-productive and we set ourselves up to be boss.
• When that happens, we will not last too long on the job. The results will not be good.
• The same is true in life. When we forget why we are here and who the boss is, the outcome will not be very good.
• Today we are going to look at the second commandment as found in Exodus 20:3-6. God’s second of His ten “word” or “declarations” reminds us of who we are to worship and serve.
• In the first commandment, God has established who He is, today we are going to start to see what He wants from us.
• Turn with me to Exodus 20:3-6
SERMON
I. THE COMMAND (3-5A)
A. You shall have no other gods before Me.
• Nearly all the commandments are couched in the negative form of prohibition, because they presuppose the existence of sin and evil desires in the human heart.
• God in this second commandment is telling us that we are to have no gods beyond Him, in addition to Him.
• He is to be the one and only God we have.
• It is important to remember that the Israelites while in captivity for over 215 years in Egypt had come out of a system in which there was a god for everything.
• God was telling them HE is the only God. God was condemning the practice of polytheism (worship of many gods).
B. Practical applications of the command
• Now let us look at the practical application of this command. (READ 4-5a)
• As we look at verse 4 we need to understand the context of what is being said. The Israelites were in captivity for over 215 years. The land of was full of idols and images that represented the gods they served.
• What do you think of when you hear the word “idolatry”? Many will think of the guy in the African jungle worshiping little statues or people bowing down before a big Buddha statue.
• What is an idol? It is something that takes the place of God. For the Israelites, it was little statues that represented the gods of Egypt. For us today it still means that but it also includes ANYTHING we set up ahead of God!
• What is the text speaking of: It is not only evident from the context that the allusion is not to the making of images generally, but to the construction of figures of God as objects of religious reverence or worship, but this is expressly stated in v. 5; so that even Calvin observes, that “there is no necessity to refute what some have foolishly imagined, that sculpture and painting of every kind are condemned here.” With the same aptness he has just before observed, that “although Moses only speaks of idols, there is no doubt that by implication he condemns all the forms of false worship, which men have invented for themselves.”
• Today in the United States I would imagine there are not too many of us who have a shelf of idols we bow down to each day, or do we?
• In an article in a June 14, 1989 edition of Today in the Word we find the following statement: Though we do not face a pantheon of false gods like the Israelites did, we face pressures from a pantheon of false values--materialism, love of leisure, sensuality, worship of self, security, and many others. The second commandment deals with idols. This may be something that most of us can’t relate to--unless we include life goals that revolve around something other than God Himself. What is the object of our affections, our efforts, and our attention? Where does the majority of our time go? On what do we spend the greatest amount of our resources?
• James Packer, in his book Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986 says the following: What other gods could we have besides the Lord? Plenty. For Israel there were the Canaanite Baals, those jolly nature gods whose worship was a rampage of gluttony, drunkenness, and ritual prostitution. For us there are still the great gods Sex, Shekels, and Stomach (an unholy trinity constituting one god: self), and the other enslaving trio, Pleasure, Possessions, and Position, whose worship is described as "The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16). Football, the Firm, and Family are also gods for some. Indeed the list of other gods is endless, for anything that anyone allows to run his life becomes his god and the claimants for this prerogative are legion. In the matter of life’s basic loyalty, temptation is a many-headed monster.
• Whatever is first in our lives is our god. Whatever we put ahead of God is our idol. Today we worship athletes, actors, and musicians. We follow every little thing about their lives. Most of us could tell people more about the life of some athlete, actor or musician than we can about the life of Christ.
• Music, entertainment, sports, movies or many other things are not bad in themselves, but when they take the place of God, we have a problem. God say you SHALL NOT WORSHIP OR SERVE THEM!
• What is your god? What is really first in your life?
II. THE REASONS FOR THE COMMAND. (5B-6)
A. God is a jealous God.
• On the surface this looks rather petty on Gods’ part. When you think about it, doesn’t God have the right to be jealous? It is no different than a husband who loves his wife and jealously desires her fidelity.
• If a person is your spouse, you have an expectation of fidelity or faithfulness on the part of your spouse. God is our provider and protector, is it not reasonable for Him to expect faithfulness from us?
• In ISAIAH 42:8 we are told, "I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.
• Deuteronomy 6:14-15 says, "You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.
• God is not some schoolboy who is jealous because his girlfriend is talking to another guy. He is a God who loves us so much that He gave His all for us. He has EARNED our faith and trust.
B. There is a price to pay for disobedience
• Look at verse 5. Does this mean that God is going to punish someone for their parents’ sins? If you look at King David, his sin did have an effect on his household. His children paid the price for his sin.
• Why did this happen? They followed in dads footsteps. What we do as parents has an effect on our children. This principle works in all areas of our lives.
• A child has the choice as to how they are going to live their life. If the parents are undisciplined people, the children usually will. If they are lazy or poor money managers, the kids will usually turn out that way. A wife beater many times begets a wife beater.
• If the children walk in the footsteps of the disobedient parents, God will withdraw His mercy from them. God allowed the Israelites to be turned over to their enemies and the future generations remained in captivity because of what their forefathers did.
C. Disobedience is akin to hating God.
• Verse 5 tells us that if we are disobedient, we hate God.
• JOHN 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
• 1 JOHN 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
• LUKE 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
• If we love God, we will do our best to obey Him.
D. There are rewards to reap for obedience.
• Just like God will withdraw His mercy and lovingkindness from those who hate Him, He will shower His blessings upon those who love and obey Him.
• Think about it. When your children are being a pain or being rebellious, do you feel like doing good things for them? Do you want to be generous towards them?
• Doesn’t it make you feel good to have children who love and obey you. Doesn’t it feel good to have children who will talk to you about anything because you have a close relationship with them?
• Guess what, God feels the same way about us when we love and obey Him!
CONCLUSION
• I do not think too many of us have a problem with bowing down to statues or pictures. We do not go out into our workshops and make images to worship and serve.
• But we do struggle with worshipping other people, worshipping ourselves or worshipping things.
• In the second commandment we are told that God is to be or ONE AND ONLY GOD.
• Take time to examine your life. What is really first in your life? What ever that may be is your God. Make the one and only God your God! Put Him first!
