A Look At The Ten Commandments
PUT GOD FIRST
Exodus 20:1-3
TEXT - And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me”.
INTRODUCTION
I. NOTICE THE SCENE
A. Exodus 19:18-19 - Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
B. Deuteronomy 4:12-15 - Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. And the LORD directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,
C. Deuteronomy 5:22 - These are the commandments the LORD proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.
D. These Were The Moral Laws Of Israel
E. Many Balk At The Idea of Commandments
F. God Is A Must God
1. He tells us what we must do
2. He tells us what we must not do
a. His commands are not ambiguous but absolute
b. His commands are not confusing but clear
c. His commands are not burdensome but blessings
d. The line is distinct
1) Black and white
2) Right and wrong
3) Non negotiable
G. Many Want To Exchange The Must God For A Mush God
1. The mush god
a. "The mush god has no theology to speak of, being a cream of wheat divinity.
b. The mush god has no tenets of faith,
c. The mush god is not a jealous god.
d. You can even invoke him to start a drunken party he/she or it won’t be offended.
e. The mush god is a serviceable god whose laws are chiseled not on tablets but written on sand,
f. The mush god’s laws are open to amendment, qualification, and deletion.
g. This is a god that will compromise with you and make allowances for you.
H. Why Do We Need Such Commandments
ILLUS: Moral erosion continues in America, according to James Patterson and Peter Kim. They report that 74 percent of Americans will steal from those who won’t miss it, and 64 percent will lie for convenience as long as no one is hurt. Most Americans (93 percent) say they alone decide moral issues, basing their decisions on their own experience or whims. Eighty-four percent say they would break the rules of their own religion. And 81 percent have violated a law they felt to be inappropriate. Only 30 percent say they would be willing to die for their religious beliefs or for God. -- Reported in The Day America Told the Truth (Prentice Hall, 1991). "To Verify," Leadership.
I. BEFORE GOD GAVE THE GAVE THE COMMANDMENTS HE ESTABLISHED HIS AUTHORITY
A. I Am God
1. He asserts that He has the authority to enact these commandments
a. He is omnipresent
1) Everywhere at once
2) Proverbs 15:3 - The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
3) Jeremiah 23:24 - Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD.
b. He is omniscient
1) All knowing
2) Hebrews 4:13 - Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
c. He is omnipotent
2) All powerful
3) Jeremiah 32:17 - "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.
d. He is independent
1) God does what He wants without consultation with ma
2) Daniel 4:35 - All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?"
3) Isaiah 40: Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?
4) Isaiah 66:1 - This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?
B. Many Refuse To Accept The Authority Of God
1. Unbelievers
a. Exodus 5:2 - Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go."
b. Cecil Knight
c. Little boy with spell and speak – ILLUS: I was listening to my 5-year-old son, Matthew, as he worked on his Speak and Spell (TM) computer. He was concentrating intensely, typing words for the computer to say back to him. Matthew punched in the word "God." To his surprise, the computer said, "Word not found." He tried again with the same reply. With great disgust, he stared at the computer and told it in no uncertain terms, "Jesus is not going to like this!" -- Mary Farwell, Green Castle, Missouri. Christian Reader, "Lite Fare."
2. Believers
a. Do we really believe God is real and has authority over our lives?
1) Many will not intellectually deny God’s existence
2) Monday through Saturday they live like He doesn’t exist
a) They don’t talk to God in prayer
b) They don’t let Him speak to them through His Word
c) They do not consider whether or not their lives bring glory to His name
b. Many appear to be religious atheists
1) They ignore God
2) They begrudge any intrusion He may make on their life
3) They resent any expectations He may have of them
II. GOD THEN ESTABLISHED OUR OBLIGATION TO HIM
A. Who is called to obey these commandments?
1. The redeemed.
a. “Thy GOD” possessive.
b. “From Egypt” redeemed.
2. These are not expectations placed upon the lost.
a. That would be a system of works.
b. These are words given to the redeemed,
B. So the redeemed of Israel are called to obey these words. But we are not part of that
C. I Am The One Who Brought You Up Out Of Egypt
D. I Did For You What You Could Not Do For Yourselves
1. By miraculous means
a. Through the Red Sea
b. Made bitter water sweet
c. Brought water out of the smitten rock
d. Now here is what I require if you
2. Notice the process
a. God revealed Himself
b. He delivered them
c. Gave them instruction
d. The man who receives deliverance but not instruction wants relief but not relationship
e. He is like the man who buys a compass and discards the compass and loses his way
E. God Did For Us What We Could Not Do For Ourselves
1. Ephesians 2:12 - Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
2. Now He Expects Us To Be Obedient To Him
a. You expect your spouse your spouse to be faithful
b. You expect your children to be obedient
c. You expect your friends to be loyal
d. So why is it so difficult to see that GOD has expectations for us?
1) He expects us to be faithful
2) He expects us to be obedient
3) He expects us to be loyal
III. THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME
A. Abandon The Rivals Of God
1. Does not indicate the existence of other gods
2. Inventions of man
3. False gods
a. 2 Kings 19:10-18 - "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ’Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them: the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?" Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands.
b. Psalm 115:3-8 - Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
4. Three meanings of before me
a. Instead of me – we substitute something else for God
d. In front of me
1) We snub God
2) Exodus 20:5 - You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
e. In addition to me – we crowd God out
[Ill.] One Haitian pastor illustrates the need for total commitment to Christ with this parable: because he was poor, he couldn’t afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: he would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door. After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So first the owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail. The Haitian pastor’s conclusion was: "If we leave the Devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ’s habitation."
B. There Are Many Things That Rival God For The Place Of Preeminence In Our Lives
1. The god of Pleasure - Pleasure is like a drug. It often requires more to get the same effect. The Law of diminishing returns - more and more needed to get same effect or high.
a. Work and duty become burdensome
b. What starts as a legitimate diversion from work can enslave our time, money, and
energy so as to become sin.
c. Anything that becomes more important than our responsibilities toward God becomes ‘god’ to us.
2. The god of Possessions - The gift of grab dominates many lives. People who place money and things first - Always needing to have the "right" clothes and cars and shoes and houses - Being possessed by things - Proverbs tells us. "the eyes of man are never satisfied"
3. The god of "Me First" - When a person feels that the world revolves around them, and that they must always come out on top, These have an aloof and elitist air about themselves - Conversation always revolves around their lives and interests - "Conceit is the only disease that a person has that makes everyone around them sick"
4. The god of "My Activities" - Anything that occupies the mind and life ahead of God - so busy with other things that your relationship with God is pushed behind them - Just too much to do
5. Other Gods we could have besides the Lord
a. Sex, Shekels, and stomach – an unholy trinity constituting one God: self
b. Football, the firm and family are also gods for some
c. Anything that we allow to run our life has become our god
6. When we closely examine our priorities, our plans, how we use our time, how we spend our money, we get a clearer picture of who or what is truly our god
FIVE AREAS
FIVE AREAS TO PUT GOD FIRST
FINANCES
Proverbs 3:9-10 - Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops;
Luke 6:38 - Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
INTERESTS
1 Corinthians 10:31 - So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Psalm 141:4 - Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies.
Proverbs 3:6 - In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
1 Thessalonians 5:22 - Abstain from all appearance of evil.
Relationships
Proverbs 12:26 - A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
1 Corinthians 15:33 - Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
SCHEDULE
Ephesians 5:16 - Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Mark 1:35 - Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
TRUST
Romans 10:9-11 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
Jeremiah 17:7 - "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
CONCLUSION
A. Is The God Of The Bible Your God?
B. Is The God Of The Bible Your God Exclusively?
