1. Exodus 20.3-6
3 “You must not have any other gods except me. 4 “You must not make for yourselves an idol that looks like anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the water below the land. 5 You must not worship or serve any idol, because I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. If you hate me, I will punish your children, and even your grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 6 But I show kindness to thousands who love me and obey my commands.
a. Prohibition of the making and worship of idols
b. #2 for Jews; #1 for Christians
2. Irrelevant to some – We do not worship Pagan gods like Zeus; Baal; Molech; Nature
3. Relevant and the “Mother of all commands.”
a. As many false gods as the Ancients
b. When we identify and eliminate false gods and our worship of them we remove a barrier to a good world
I. There is ONE God
A. Father of All – Ephesians 4:6 6 There is one God and Father of everything. He rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything. Acts 17:22-31
1. ONE human Race – ALL are brothers and sisters
2. By having the same parent no one has more inherent worth than another
B. The Standard for All
1. One God = One Moral Standard
2. We don’t look to another god for another standard
II. Modern gods –
A. Bad things happen when we worship anything other than God – power; race; a nation
"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." James Madison
1. Art and Music
a. Some of the cruelest people in history loved art and music – Nazis stole and admired art
b. 1971 Movie, Clockwork Orange displayed violent behavior with classical music playing – even beautiful music can inspire to good or bad
2. Education
a. Proper Education should teach how to live and how to make a living.
b. Even the elites, who supported Hitler, were highly educated
c. Benjamin Rush: "By removing the Bible from schools we would be wasting so much time and money in punishing criminals and so little pains to prevent crime. Take the Bible out of our schools and there would be an explosion in crime."
d. Most of the leaders who have supported Stalin’s and Mao’s genocide were highly educated.
e. Nothing about a PhD guarantees that a person will be wiser, kinder, or more ethical than a person without a degree. HS must be the teacher for all of us
John 14:26 But the Helper will teach you everything and will cause you to remember all that I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name.
3. Love
a. Can be beautiful
b. Can lead to evil – if we love anything apart from God
c. A biblical example of the RYR Matthew 19:16-29
[America’s love for money was documented in a book called “The Day America Told the Truth”. Americans were asked: “What are you willing to do for $10,000,000?”
• Would abandon their entire family (25%)
• Would abandon their church (25%)
• Would give up their American citizenships (16%)
• Would leave their spouses (16%)
• Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free (10%)
• Would put their children up for adoption (3%)
• But the point is… People are willing to do many things for money.
1. This command seems to focus on God. Obeying this command impacts other people.
2. When we worship God of the 10 Words, we have a good world
3. When we worship any other god, no matter how noble it sounds, we have cruelty and confusion.
4. In the ninth century AD, the emperor Charlemagne who had ruled most of Europe during his life – DIED at the age of 72. In his will, he had ordered that he be buried in the vault of the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle. His body was embalmed, clothed in imperial purple, seated on a throne, and placed in a tomb all paved with gold coins. With a royal crown on his head, a scepter in his hand, a sword by his side, and an open Bible on his knees… the great Emperor now dead sat on a throne, and the vault was closed. Charlemagne had prescribed all this in his will, and had given strict orders that his tomb should never be opened. But one of the later German emperors, wishing to retrieve the crown, and other priceless objects, had the tomb opened. The sight the workmen saw was startling. There was Charlemagne’s body in a sitting position, clothed in the most elaborate of kingly garments. On his knee lay the Holy Scriptures with his cold, lifeless hand open to Mark 8:36: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
Charlemagne was a man who during his life had control of ASTONISHING wealth, yet left a final legacy pointing out to all -- the very temporary nature of possessions.
