If you have your Bible, turn to Exodus chapter 20. Today, we are going to begin a sermon series called, "The Ten Commandments: The Soul of America", starting with the message, "Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods". America has turned its back on the God of the Bible. There are so many religions and beliefs in our country today. The only God America has rejected is the God of the Bible. This is why the Ten Commandments are so important to the people of God.
The Ten Commandments are the very soul of America. Our forefathers founded this nation on the Word of God, specifically these Ten Commandments. America has lost sight of that. America has pushed God out of our schools, our government buildings and out of our country. And the end result is quite clear. Now, we have metal detectors and armed security personnel in our schools. Gun violence has swept through this country like a plague! Shootings in our schools, shopping malls, grocery stores, even our churches are being infested with gun violence! Riots are happening all over the world! Our government is falling apart at the seams! Why? There is only one answer. We have taken God out of our country and we have taken His Ten Commandments out of our schools and government buildings! And in so doing, we have lost the covering and protection of the Lord.
Exodus 20:1-3 says, "And 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."
Many people read this scripture and believe it's limited to only pagan gods or other mythological beings. But anything can be a god in your life. Even a person. How? When there is something or someone in your life that is more important to you than the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that is a god! And God said in His Word, "You shall have no other gods before Me." What gods are in your life?
One god is the god of self. Romans 1:24-25 says, "Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." Many people in the world today are focused only on themselves. They believe as if they were the god of their life and the only rules that apply to them are their own. They don't care about anyone or anything but themselves. They go throughout their day pondering, "What's in it for me?" What do they get out of anything they do from day to day. How is their day going to benefit them? They have no regard or consideration for their fellow man. And Jesus said in John 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” What kind of love does someone who thinks only of themselves ever show to others? Absolutely none!
There was a time when people cared about each other. There was a time when people looked out for one another. When they saw a need, they rallied to fulfill that need. Now, it's everyone for themselves! And it's a sad, tragic reality knowing that people just don't care anymore about anything other than themselves! They are serving the God of self and not the God of the Bible!
Some people are overly preoccupied with their appearance. Some slave away at the gym for hours on end to have what they believe is the "perfect body". Others spend a fortune in cosmetics and beauty treatments in a desperate, futile attempt to preserve their youth. No amount of money and no beauty treatment or any treatment for that matter, can preserve one's youth. It's an impossible feat to say the least! People are so concerned about aging and losing their good looks, they fail to realize that aging is inevitable and no matter what you do to preserve your youth and have the "perfect body", your bodies will still rot and decay after this life. Only your soul is immortal! Only your soul will live forever! The god of self is a false god and you shall have no other gods before the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The god of self is a god that will lead you straight to hell's everlasting fire! And once you're there, there will be no getting out!
Then there's the god of pleasure. Philippians 3:18–19 says, “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame; who set their mind on earthly things” This seems to be the god people worship the most. The pleasures of this world are so vast and various. Some people only find pleasure in money. They play lottery games to no end with the hope of winning big and becoming a multi, multi, millionaire. Other people find pleasure in food. They eat to no end and find solace in the food they eat. Most of these people are suffering from a past hurt. Something or someone hurt them so bad, they have turned to food to find the comfort and peace they're looking for. Only to have their "friend" turn on them and make their bodies their prisons. Health issues arise out of this so-called "comfort food". People are gaining weight at an alarming rate! They're weighing close to, if not, 600 pounds or more! That is gluttony!
The Bible says in Proverbs 23:21, "For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags." So, alcoholics are including in this equation. People who are sad and depressed over a past hurt or life turning sour on them are turning to food and drink to comfort themselves when all they have to do is turn to Jesus and He will make all things new! Some seek the god of pleasure through sex. They turn to pornography, fornication, even adultery to acquire the pleasure they're looking for. This is one of the main reasons why so many marriages are ending in divorce. People are looking for pleasure in the world and the flesh when they should be looking for life in Christ!
1 Corinthians Chapter 6:9-10, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."
Paul said in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind". When you indulge the pleasures of this world, you are allowing this world to come into your heart and rob you of the blessings God has for you. You are allowing this world to pull you away from God and lead you down the road to hell! Stop letting what this world has to offer lead you down the garden path. There is only one way to salvation, redemption, and peace in your life and it's through Jesus Christ!
Next, the god of possessions. Matthew 6:24, “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 mammon”
Job 31:24–25, 28; “If I have made gold my hope, or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’; if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gained much. . .this also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, for I would have denied God who is above”
This brings me back to trying to win the lottery. Since the Covid 19 pandemic, people have been buying more lottery tickets than ever before! This world has become madly obsessed with winning the massive jackpot the lottery offers. I saw a man once buy over three hundred dollars' worth of lottery tickets, only to have won absolutely nothing! He paid cash for them at that! That was a wasteful, wasteful, use and stewardship of his finances! That money could've have gone to more important necessities. Groceries, bills, rent, mortgage payments! Even if he had all of those paid for the month, it would have been a much better use and stewardship of his finances for him to put that money into savings or invest it in something more sensible like an interest paying account.
Remember the parable of the servant and the talent? Matthew 25:14-30, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Think about that. Think about the wrath of the master the servant who hid his talent had to face. When you gamble your money, whether it's the lottery or at a casino, you are taking what the Lord has given you and are wasting it on prodigal living! It's the same thing. God wants you to be a wise steward with your money. He wants you to be wise in your spending. He wants you to put what He gives you to good use. And gambling is not a wise endeavor to undertake. All you'll end up doing, whether you win or lose, is waste your money and eventually end up spending more than you'll ever win! It's an exercise in futility to spend money to win money! People have lost everything because of gambling addictions! And make no mistake about it, playing the lottery is gambling and it can easily become an addiction! Unfortunately, there are many in the church who have fallen prey to this snare of the enemy.
Why am I so against playing the lottery? Simple. To buy something supposedly as "innocent" as a single lottery ticket is a clear-cut message to God that says, "God, I don't trust you enough nor do I have enough faith in You to trust and believe Your Word that You will meet and supply all my needs according to Your riches and glory in Christ Jesus. So, I am going to turn to this sin filled, Godless world for my provision!" We just read what the Bible says, “If I have made gold my hope, or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’; if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gained much. . .this also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, for I would have denied God who is above” (Job 31:24–25, 28) When all you seek in life is wealth, wealth becomes your only priority. And when that happens, God is not first in your life. "You shall have no other God's before Me".
Those are just a few of the more common gods of this world but the more ancient are still being worshiped today. Allah seems to be the most popular of them. Along with the Virgin Mary. Neither of these can save you, neither of them can get you into Heaven. There is only One way to Heaven, and it's the Lord Jesus Christ! John 14:6, "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
People often ask, "Why does such a loving God allow all the violence and bloodshed that is happening in the world?" What they don't understand or even realize is that He didn't, we did. Of all the centuries recorded in history, the 20th century is the one that saw the most people further away from God than this world has ever been. And this century is well on its way to being even worse than that! With all of the false religions in the world, Hinduism, Buddhism, the Islamic faith, and even Atheism, the 20th century saw the most people away from the God of the Bible and the bloodiest, most violent wars of all time! The Korean War, World Wars 1 and 2, the Vietnam War, Desert Storm, and the most recent war in the Middle East. Over 200 million lives lost in that century in those wars.
The reason we are to have no other gods before Almighty God is a simple one. Who else can do what the God of the Bible can do? Who else can deliver His people out of slavery and bondage, part the sea so they can escape their pursuing enemy and consume that enemy in the same sea? Who else loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die on a blood soaked cross in our place so that we may live and come home to Him in His Kingdom of Heaven? Who else can make the blind see and the lame walk? Who else loved you so much that He died for you so you may live and not die? Who else can make a way where there seems to be no way? Who else can love you more than the Great I Am?!!!
