Ten Commandments Series #1:
There is only Him
Exodus 20:1-3
Introduction:
*Illustration- Ted Turner, never shy about making his thoughts public,
has proposed that we do away with the ten commandments. On second
thought, that isn’t quite right. He actually suggested a rewrite. Setting
aside the old, traditional commands about adultery and greed, the media
mogul from Atlanta proposes new priorities such as: "I love and respect
the planet earth and all living things thereon, especially my fellow
species, mankind"; or "I promise to have no more than two children, or no
more than my nation suggests"; and "I reject the use of force,
particularly military force." Larry King reported his suggestions and
said, "Ted Turner’s new ten commandments make a lot more sense than the
old ones."
*I think a lot of people would like to rewrite the ten commandments. I
find it amusing how such an ancient list known as the decalogue can be so
utterly relevant in 1999 America.
*Illustration- I find amazing the way my children react take them away
from home. We can go to a park, or go out to eat. It doesn’t matter,
their reaction is still the same. They have fun wherever they are as long
as one of us is with them. And if a choice has to be made - Mommy is
always best.
*The children of God, the Israelites reacted quite differently to God’s
leading. He was with them and had delivered them from horrific bondage,
yet when God led them out of danger into a far-away strange land they
responded to God through Moses by saying, "Get us back to Egypt." It was
in the midst of this attitude that God originally delivered the ten
commandments.
READ TEXT
I. God takes no place but first place.
*This is the key to building a life of character. Put God first in your
life. Most people would either be puzzled at our starting point or
disagree whole-heartedly like Ted Turner. The world’s prevailing attitude
about character is that it has to do strictly with how a person handles
his relationships with others.
*Illustration- A few years ago some university professors gave out
copies of the ten commandments to their students and asked them to
arrange them in order of importance. Ninety percent of the students
reversed the order, putting the commandments about how we are to treat
our fellow man first and the commandments about how we are to relate to
God last.
*Listen to the order Jesus put it in: One of the teachers of the law
came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good
answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most
important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: ’Hear, O
Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all
your strength.’ The second is this: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:28-31, NIV)
*The Jews understood the fact that the first four principles - those
dealing with our relationship with God - provide the theological basis
for living a life of character. In other words, they provide the WHY for
our living lives that so dramatically go against the current of our
society. This reversal of priorities is further evidence of Satan’s
success in convincing us that we can be the moral centers in our
universe, and unbelievers are by no means the only people to fall prey to
his deception.
*Illustration- Look for example, at the way we in the church have taught
sexual morality. We have tried to convince people to abstain from sexual
activity before marriage, which is certainly part of God’s plan; but what
reasons do we give people for obeying? The reasons I heard growing up
were: (1) You may lose your reputation, (2) you might get a disease, and
(3) you might get a girl pregnant. Well, certainly all three problems can
be consequences of sexual activity outside of marriage, but notice
something very important. In all three reasons for abstaining, God is
nowhere to be found! Those arguments support the same case for purity
that anyone in the world could make. So I guess it shouldn’t surprise us
that young people growing up in Christian homes hearing these motives for
living lives of character aren’t keeping themselves any purer than the
children of the world. We need to show our youth why God needs to be the
center and circumference in their lives.
*Did you notice that the first instruction does not start, "You shall
believe in a god"? That is not necessary. We’ve spent a number of
centuries trying to hide this fact, but man has a built-in need for God.
Foxholes and hospital rooms have been revealing that need for centuries.
In fact, not only does every person have a need for God, but every person
has a god, as well. That statement may surprise you but its true. A god
is whatever has first place in your life. In every person’s heart, there
is a throne; and on every throne, there is a god. The only question then
is whether that god is true or false. The God of the Bible declares that
he will not accept any place in your life accept first place. The claim
made: You will have no other gods before me; affirms God’s rightful claim
to be our only legitimate foundation. In fact, without this fundamental
declaration of his sovereign right to be the only one on our heart’s
throne, all the rest of the instructions make no difference. Until we
commit to this first principle of God taking no place but first place in
our lives, it makes no difference to us what God says about stealing or
adultery, because we haven’t given him his right to legislate those areas
of our lives. Without this commitment to this very first commandment, the
great lie of the garden is still perpetuated.
II. The gods who would be king.
*Just as all character is a result of putting the true God on the throne
of our hearts, all sins are a result of putting other gods on that
throne. Yahweh has as much competition for our hearts today as ever
before.
*We may not worship Mars (the god of war) today. But how much do we put
our trust and our security in making certain that the United States
military complex can outgun any other country in the world?
*Driving around Des Moines I have not seen a single temple yet where
people can worship the sex goddess Aphrodite, but I can assure you, a
great many people here do worship sex. The porn business is alive and
well in Des Moines.
*God’s instruction to the Israelites to have "no other gods before me"
was truly revolutionary in that time (and still is today), for God is not
saying that other gods should rank behind him in importance. He is not
calling for the Israelites to worship him as the dominant god, but as the
only one. In fact God said in Exodus 34:14 "Do not worship any other god,
for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." (NIV)
*It used to confuse me that God would say he was jealous, because we’ve
given that word a negative connotation. But now as a husband, I
understand that sometimes jealousy is not a flaw, but a moral excellence.
I have a holy jealousy toward my wife, Shannon. We have made a covenant
with each other - we made a solemn agreement before God - to share our
lives and love with each other, and I’m jealous with that covenant
because it is destroyed if it is shared with any other. I want Shannon’s
sole affection, or the covenant is broken.
*Illustration- Have you ever been on tour of a castle? When the guide
takes you to the throne room and points out the throne, there is one
thing I can guarantee: it will be a seat for one. There’s just no such
thing as a throne "pew." Thrones come in all sizes, shapes, and styles
but one thing they all have in common is that they are made for a lone
occupant. The first step toward building a life of character is deciding
that Yahweh God will be the lone occupant on the throne of your heart.
III. The God who should be king.
*When God began addressing the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai, God
began with a revelation about himself. Beginning to know Yahweh is
crucial to our quest for character, for he is the definition of
character. So, before he tells us what he wants, God tells us who he is.
A. He is an unchanging God.
*He begins by saying, "I am the LORD." (Exodus 20:2). That word, "LORD"
might be in all capitals in your Bible. It is actually in Hebrew the
personal name for God, Yahweh. We first find this name in Exodus 3 when
Moses stood before a burning bush. There, God told Moses to tell the
people that God’s name - His personal covenant name - is "I Am." That is
what the word literally means. Another way of translating the word is, "I
am who I am," or "I will be that I will be." This strange name is
indicative of God’s unchanging character. His own name means that God is
absolutely faithful. It is God’s unchanging character which gives
relevance to these ten commandments.
*If God were changeable then his values might be changeable as well.
That’s why human laws are always changing. Some years ago for example,
the U.S. Supreme Court wrote the legal definition of "obscenity." The
court basically said that something is obscene if it is considered so by
the local community. The court wrote this definition hoping it would
stand the test of time, but do you know what is wrong with this
definition? It makes the definition contingent upon the values of
changeable people. Thus we are being exposed to literature, movies, and
artwork today that ten years ago would have been considered obscene, but
which our communities no longer find shocking. What has changed - the
content of the material, or the people who are the materials’ judges?
*In the same way, someone may say, "I know God said a long time ago not
to commit adultery, but these are different times." Yes, times have
changed, but God has not. God is who he is. He’s always been who he is,
and he’s always going to be who he is. Stealing will always be wrong.
Lying will always be wrong. Harming your neighbor will always be wrong
because I AM is still I AM. He will never be he was. God’s character is
something you can rely on. He is an unchanging God.
B. He is a personal God.
*Look at verse two again. It says, "I am the LORD your God." An
interesting note about that word your in the phrase "your God" is that it
is actually singular rather than plural. In other words, instead of
saying "I’m the national God of Israel," God is saying "I am the personal
God of each Israelite. I’m the God of Abraham, the God of Moses, The God
of Aaron, the God of Joshua, the God of Miriam."
*The phrase "your God" implies that this eternal I AM knows you and me,
and even more incredibly perhaps, wants to be known by you and me. He
wants a relationship with us so much, in fact that, rather than waiting
for us to initiate it, he takes the first step. God always approaches us
before we approach him. He is a personal God.
C. He is a delivering God.
*Just as God wants to be God of each person, he wants also to be God of
a people, and he reminds the Israelites that he is the God who "brought
you out of Egypt." Only three months before, they had been a people of
bondage in Egypt. There they had been exposed to many gods. Now they were
on the threshold of a new land - Canaan - where they would be enticed by
as many imposter gods as ever. And God is calling the Israelites to take
a stand; he’s saying that it is time for them to commit their allegiance
to him. After all he is the one who delivered them from those imposter
Egyptian gods.
*He calls for this same allegiance today from you and I based on the
same three reasons:
1. Because of who he is (an unchanging God)
2. Because of where he is (close to us as a personal God)
3. Because of what he did (he is a delivering God).
*God gives us these commandments to direct us and guide us in life. He
wants us to have a fixed point of reference, so that we will know where
we are headed.
*Illustration- I have been to London, England five times. It is a
beautiful city. There is a place there, not terribly far from Buckingham
Palace called Charing Cross. It is a decorative cross in almost the
geographical center of the city. People will give directions from that
point. If someone is lost and asks directions a person will ask, "Do you
know the cross?"
*The same is for you and I today. The cross will lead us home. God have
us the ten commandments to guide us - to lead us. They point us to the
cross and if we find the cross, then we can make it home!
INVITATION
