Ten Commandments - Part 2
“HOW ARE WE TO RELATE TO GOD?”
Exodus 20:1-11
By the time of Jesus the Ten Commandments had been expanded into a list of 618 rules of conduct. It was an impossible burden of confusing and frustrating rules. One day a lawyer came to Jesus and ask the question, “Which is the greatest commandment in the law.” (Matt. 22:36). Jesus responded by saying, “… You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (40) On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Jesus pointed out very clearly that the law concerns our relationship with God and our relationship with other men.
Last week we noted that the Ten Commandments are divided into two parts – the first four commandments regard man’s relationship to God. First, we must get our relationship with God right, this will be the subject of study for today. Next we will look at the last six commandments, which regard man’s relationship to man, to discover how people are supposed to relate to one another.
In the first four commandments God tells us four things about relating to Him.
I. Who Should We Worship? vv. 1-3
“And God spoke all these words, saying: (2) “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (3) “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
The children of Israel were headed for the land of Canaan, but the Promised Land was populated by a pagan people who had a god to solve every problem they had. God knew that it would be easy for His people to be seduced by these physical, earthly representations of Canaanite deities and the depraved worship that companied them. He did not want to see the people whom He had delivered enslave themselves again.
For us today when we think of idols we think of someone worshipping a fat smiling Budda or a woman in Nepal worshipping at the image of Kali, the bloodthirsty Hindu goddess. Today we are in little danger of actually worshipping an idol made of stone or gold. But socialists tells that something is a god, is an object of worship, when it becomes the source of our self-worth and the ultimate consideration in our decision -making. We can put only one thing in the top slot of our priority system. Whatever is in that position dominates everything else in your life.
God is the only one who deserves the number one position in your life. He deserves first place not only by right of creation but by right of redemption.
HOW WE MAKE GOD FIRST?
1. Stop To Worship. Remember the awesome God who has condescended to have a relationship with you. Reflect for a moment on the fact that the God of the Universe wants to have fellowship with you. Wonder cultivates worship.
2. Remember What God has Done. It is easy in our day and age to forget just where we would be but for the grace of God! Look for the things you have to be thankful for.
3. Recognize the Competition. If you stop to evaluate your life for a moment, it will reveal what we consider important. If we tell people that things are not important and that God is, and then we live our lives as if the opposite is true, what are really telling them?
II. How Should We Worship vv. 4-6
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; (5) you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, (6) but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
It is not the worship of false gods that is condemned here, Otherwise this would simply be a repeat of the First Commandment. Rather this commandment refers to the inadequate and inaccurate image of the true God and their use in worship. It is possible to worship false gods but it is also possible to worship the true god falsely.
While Moses is on the Mount receiving the Ten Commandments the people who had grown weary in waiting for Moses to come down off the Mount turned to Aaron and said according to Exodus 32:1, “…. Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” So Araron gathered the gold, melted it down and made a statue of a calf. Then he said in verse four, “… Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” But don’t be confused it wasn’t that they wanted a different God, it’s just that they wanted to worship God in a different form. They would have been horrified if someone thought they meant to worship someone other than Jehovah.
“There is an old story told about a man who was walking along a steep cliff one day when he accidentally got too close to the edge and fell. As he slid down the cliff, he reached out and grabbed a branch that was sticking out and hung on for dear life. He looked below him and saw the chasm stretching down hundreds of feet. He looked up and saw no footholds with which to climb back up. So he hung there, absolutely terrified, and began yelling for help. “Help! Help! Is anyone up there?” He heard his own voice echo for hours, but nobody responded.
Then finally he heard a voice. “Jack! Jack! Can you hear me?”
Jack was thrilled and his heart swelled with hope. “Yes! I can hear you! I’m down here, clinging on to this branch” “I can see you, Jack. Are you alright?” “Yes, but…who are you? Where are you? I can’t see you?” “I’m God, Jack. I’m everywhere.” “What? You mean the God?” “Yes, Jack. That’s me.” “Okay. Well, Lord, please help me out here. I promise that if you get me out of this one, I’ll never sin again. I’ll be the nicest person in the whole world. I’ll go be a missionary in Africa or something. Just get me out of here.” Hey, take it easy on the promises, Jack. Let me get you out of there, and then we can have a long talk. Now, here’s what I want you to do. Listen to me carefully.” Jack shouted excitedly, “I’ll do anything you say! Just tell me what to do.” “Okay, Jack. Let go of the branch.”
There was a long pause. “What?!” “I said to let go of the branch, Jack. Trust me. Just let go.” Another long pause. “Um… Is there anyone else up there?!” And that’s how many of us respond to God. We want him, but we want him on our terms.
Something is missing in the worship of most Christians in America. It is not often that churchgoers even contemplate finding themselves face to face with a living God. If there were there would be a renewed recognition of His Holiness.
Unfortunately, it is all too easy to acquire a vast store -house of fascinating information about God without coming face to face with Him. We can know all about God theoretically without really knowing Him personally. An encounter with a living God shakes us awake, arrest our attention from the all the things of that make up life, family problems, sales meetings, sporting events, and own self pity. It awakens us to the greatness of the person we are meeting and sheer grace it takes to allow us into His Holy presence. It interrupts our plans, it changes our priorities, it confronts with Gods’ claim on our lives. It is not something that we can turn away from and forget about on the way home.
Warren Wiersbe says that we have lost all contact with who God is. He says, “Rather than an encounter with a living God, we are toying with an image of our own imagination.” [Bill and Kathy Peel. Where is Moses When We Need Him? (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1995) p. 63.] The second commandment addresses this desire to fashion a God of our own design.
The god we fashion with our minds is convenient but not very compelling. What else could explain how a person can stand and sing in the choir without missing a note but at the same time be plotting their strategy for work the next day. How can one sit through a sermon looking attentive but inside thinking only of the first fifteen minutes of the ballgame he is missing. How can a family who to the world appears perfect, hear the message but never apply the truth they know. These people would say that they are worshipping, but what message are they conveying to their children. This is where vv. 5-6 come to play.
III. In Whose Name v. 7
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
A name symbolizes a person. So when we use some-one’s name in a offensive way, we naturally are offensive to the person who’s name it is. For example, I find it personally offensive that people refer to a restroom as a “John.” If you want to call it a “Fred” or a “Ted” that would not bother me but “John” is my name.
The two principle areas in which we can apply this commandment in our lives today are our words and our walk. Lets look first at our words. In other places in scripture this is explained that we are not to “profane the name of your God” (Lev. 18:21). “Our English word profane comes from two Latin words, pro and fanum. Pro means in front of and fanum means temple. … So, a profane word is a word that you would not say in church.” [William Davis. Bible Light For Daily Life. (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1977.) p. 24]
Almost every one understands that the third command-ment prohibits the using of the Lord’s name as a cuss word. Some do not seem to realize that this applies to the slight alterations that have been made by those who wish to appear to abide by the letter of the law if not its spiritual implications. We use words like “Dad-gummit, gosh darn it, good god, and Jeeeesus. But all are still violations of the third commandment.
Secondly this commandment applies to our walk. Cleaning up your language is only a minor part of complying with this commandment. The verse says that we are “not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.” The word vain is an old English word that means “empty, useless or for worthless purpose.” As Christians we bear the name of Jesus, and we are called by his name, we must live for Him lives which glorify his name. This means that we are prohibited from a casual approach to God’s person, symbolized by his name and we are not to seek to use the power of God for our own personal gain.
“One of my favorite stories is one about Alexander the Great. Alexander was a brilliant strategist and a mighty conqueror. He was not only a leader of men, but he was fearless in battle. Often times, he would charge forth leading his men, riding his mighty horse, Busephalis. He would hurl himself headlong into the fray and be standing when everyone else had fallen. He was a courageous man. There was not a cowardly bone in his body. He conquered the known world of his day. And it is said of him that he wept when there were no more lands to conquer.
The story is told of him sitting in judgment on the battlefield. There he was judge and jury. His word was law. When he had spoken, it would be done. There on the battlefield, he would take his seat, flanked on either side by his most trusted officers. Before him would be brought all of those with charges against them. Many times his judgment could be extremely harsh, especially in those situations of desertion.
Before him one day was brought a young lad. He was a fair-haired youth and very young. Alexander asked what the boy’s name was. The officer presenting him said, "Alexander, sir." At once, the great general’s countenance softened. It was as if he was flattered that the boy had his name. His men breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps there would be some leniency for this young man, whatever his crime. Alexander inquired as to the nature of the charge against the young lad. His officer replied, "Cowardice, sir. He fled in the heat of battle." The once soft countenance of the great general was suddenly transformed into an intense, tight-jawed grimace. Looking the boy squarely in the eye, he said to him deliberately, "Son, what did you say was your name?" The lad replied, "Why, Alexander, sir." Speaking again to the boy, this time in a louder tone he said, "Young man, what did you say was your name?" The young man answered in a stutter, "Why, uh-uh Alexander, sir." To that answer, the emperor bolted off his throne and grabbed the terrified young soldier and said to him, "Young man, change your behavior or change your name!"
Is it possible for us to take the name of the Lord in vain? Might the Lord be saying to us, "Christian, change your behavior or change your name?" [J. David Hoke. “Honoring God With Your Lips and Lives.” Sermon Central]
IV. The Day That God Calls His Own vv. 8-11
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (10) but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. (11) For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
This must be a very important principle, I want you to notice that God said more about the Fourth Commandment that any of the other nine. God uses only four words for telling man not to kill. “You shall not kill.” But here he used ninety-four words for telling man that is necessary to keep a day of rest. That should help us to understand that the Fourth Commandment is very important.
I would like to suggest three simple things that you can do that will add meaning to your life!
1. Make Sunday A Day Of Rest.
Many seem to take it for granted that the fourth commandment is all about worship. That to keep the Sabbath was to worship, which meant going to church. But in reality the subject of this commandment is not worship, but about work and leisure, their place in God’s plan and keeping them in proper balance. Literally the Hebrew “Sabbath” means “rest”, and keeping the Sabbath is about balancing work and rest. Even though Christians are not bound by the Law, the principles of work and rest and leisure still need to be applied to our lives.
The text tells us in verse 11 that the principle of the Sabbath is rooted in creation, just as “ in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day” so must we.
2. Do All Your Work As Unto God!
What is necessary to apply this in our lives today is to realize that we need to reclaim a biblical understanding of work, to recognize that our daily work falls into God’s jurisdiction just as much as the pastor’s work. Paul reminds believers of some very important truth in his letter to the Colossians (3:22-24), where he says, “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”
Paul is saying that we go to work for the same reason that we go to church, as an act of worship. We have the really misguided notion that the only work for God that counts is by going into the full time ministry. A story I recently read about William Wilberforce really helped me to see this more clearly.
“Think what would have happened had William Wilberforce, the man credited for almost single-handedly stopping the British slave trade, had left politics for the ‘ministry.’ When Wilberforce made a serious commitment to Christ he went to John Newton to discuss whether he should leave Parliament and enroll in seminary. Newton, a pastor, wisely reminded Wilberforce, ‘Maybe God has you there for a purpose.’ Because Wilberforce remained in his ‘secular’ calling, he not only became one of the strongest forces for Christ in his generation, but slavery was ended in the British Empire. Largely because of his personal crusade – something that would have been impossible from the pulpit.” [Bill and Kathy Peel. Where is Moses When We Need Him? (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1995) p. 110.]
3. Make Sunday A Day For Corporate Worship In Church.
God not only wants us to stop working he wants us to start worshipping. Just as our bodies need rest, our spirits need worship. That does not mean that we cannot worship outside of the church building, we can. But, there is something uniquely refreshing and dynamic about coming together for worship as a body.
We are not to neglect this time of corporate worship. The writer of the Hebrews commands “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” (10:25). There may be emergencies and other situations that cause you to miss the gathering of the church. But those should be the exemptions and not the rule. Billy Graham once said, “Jesus spoke about the ox in the ditch on the Sabbath. But if your ox gets in the ditch on every Sabbath, you should either get rid of the ox or fill the ditch.”
Application
1. We need to give God the number one place anything else is unacceptable. Whatever is the source of your self worth, the ultimate consideration in our decision making is our god.
2. If we worship a living god is to be confronted by His claims on our lives.
3. We must beware in both our words and walk that we do not carry his name in an empty way. Some of us really may need to change our ways or change our name.
4. Remember that God has designed one day in seven as a day of rest and day of worship. Make a commitment to be faithful to the Lord’s house.
