Mar 22
6
Old Testament Reading: Exodus 20:1-11
“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 slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. ‘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. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.’” (Exodus 20:1–11, ESV)
New Testament Reading: John 14:15–24
“‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.’ Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.’” (John 14:15–24, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
Today we will be considering the first of the Ten Commandments, which is, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Before we get to the commandment itself, I have five brief points to make by way of introduction. Really, these are reminders of things that were said in previous sermons regarding these Ten Commandments and their relationship to the other laws that were given to Israel in the days of Moses when God entered into a covenant with them. Please bear with me as I attempt to shore up our foundational understanding of the law of God just a bit more.
One, we must remember that the Ten Commandments contain a summary of the moral law of God. The Ten Words that were given to Israel on Sinai were not totally unique to them, nor were they new. No, the Ten Commandments – “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image… You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain… Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother… You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet…” (Exodus 20:3–17, ESV) – were as true and binding on Adam in the garden of Eden as they are for us today. This moral law, which is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments, was written on man’s heart at creation, it continues as a rule of life even now, and by this law, all men will be judged on the last day if not in Christ. It is essential for us to remember this as we consider each of the Ten Commandments one by one. The Ten Commandments contain a summary of the ever-abiding and universal moral law of God. They should matter deeply to us, brothers and sisters.
Two, when God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel on Sinai, he did so while entering into a covenant of works with them. God made a covenant with the nation of Israel in those days. In the days of Abraham, the Lord made a covenant with the Hebrews wherein he promised to give them the land of Canaan and to make them into a great nation. In the days of Moses, the LORD made another covenant with Israel. It did not replace the covenant made with Abraham, but built upon it and expanded it. In the covenant that God made with Israel in the days of Moses, it was communicated clearly that Israel would be blessed in the land that would be graciously given to them so long as they kept the covenant. As I have said, this was a covenant of works. Israel would be blessed in the land if they obeyed. Israel would be cursed in the land and even cast out of it if they disobeyed. These were the terms of the covenant that God made with Israel through Moses. It was a covenant of works that could be kept, or broken. And what would the people of Israel need to keep? What rules would they need to obey to obtain the blessings of God? They would need to obey God’s law. And here I am reminding you that the Ten Commandments, wherein we find a summary of the moral law of God, functioned as the foundation or core of all of the other laws that God gave to Israel, whether civil or ceremonial. This is why the Ten Commandments were given first. This is why the LORD spoke them directly to the people. This is why he would write them on tablets of stone with his own hand. These laws – the Ten Commandments – were revealed in a special way because they were most fundamental to the law code that was given to Israel when the
Three, when the LORD entered into that covenant of works with Israel through Moses, the stated blessings for keeping the covenant were not the forgiveness of sins or eternal life, but rather blessed life on earth and in the land that the LORD has promised to graciously give them. This is a crucially important observation. When the LORD entered in to covenant with Israel through Moses he did not say if you keep the terms of this covenant you will be forgiven of your sins, justified before me, and saved for all eternity. No, the LORD said, if you keep the covenant you will be my treasured possession on earth. Pay careful attention to this. Israel’s redemption was earthly – they were redeemed from Egypt. The land that was promised to them was earthly – they were promised Canaan. The blessings promised to them upon obedience were earthly. And the curses for disobedience were earthly too. To state the matter differently, when the LORD entered into covenant with Israel in the days of Moses he did not make salvation obtainable through obedience to the law. No. So, how were men and women saved in those days? Answer: In the same way that men and women have been saved from their sins ever since the fall, that is, through faith in the promised Messiah. The Old Mosaic Covenant did not, in and of itself, offer the forgiveness of sins. Only the New Covenant, which is the Covenant of Grace, does that. Those who were truly forgiven, justified, and made righteous under the Old Covenat – men like Moses, King David, and many others – were justified, not by the works of the law, and not by looking to the Old Covenant itself and its ordinance, but by believing in the promises of God reguarding the Messiah. Those promises were spoken to them, and those promised were pictured before them in the ceremonies and sacrifices of the Old Covenant system. But note this: to be saved from their sins the saints of old had to look to the future to the Christ who was to come, and to the New Covenant, which is the Covenant of Grace.
Four, the Ten Commandments functioned in four ways for Old Covenant Israel. One, they functioned as a rule of life. By that I mean, they revealed the right way for men and women to live on earth. Two, they served to restrain sin in a general way in that nation. Three, they showed men and women that they were sinners and needed a Savior. Four, as I have said, the Ten Commandments functioned as the foundational laws for all of the laws that would be imposed upon Israel under that covenant of works that God made with them.
My fifth and final introductory observation is this: the Ten Commandments are for Christians today. True, there are some things said in the Ten Commandments that were unique to Old Covenant Israel, and are therefore not for us. And true, we are not under the Ten Commandments as a covenant of works as Israel was. Nevertheless, the moral law of God which is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments is for us. God, in his mercy, uses the moral law to restraint evil in the world today. God uses the moral law to show us our sin and to convince us of our need for a Savior, Christ the LORD. And God uses the moral law to teach us how we are to live in the world. God spoke the Ten Commandments to Israel from Sinai when he entered into a special covenant with them through Moses after redeeming them from Egypt and before bringing them into the promised land of Canaan. But the moral law is precious to all who live now under the Covenant of Grace. The Covenant of Grace is not without law, brothers and sisters. Law and grace – law and gospel – are not contrary to one another. No, to use the language of our confession, they sweetly comply. The question is, what role does the law play in the New Covenant? We will soon find out.
As we turn now to the first of the Ten Commandments, I will like to consider it in three parts. One, we will consider the law itself. Two, we will attempt to get to the heart of the matter to. And three, we will consider the gospel. So first, the law. Second, the heart of the matter. And third, the gospel.
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The Law
First the law: “You shall have no other gods before me.” This is the first of the Ten Commandments.
One question we must ask about this commandment is, what do the words “before me” mean? Do the words “before me” mean above me? You can see how they could be taken in that way, can’t you? Taken in that way, God would simply be saying, I must be your number one God, or at least tied for number one. You may have other gods so long as they are equal to me or lesser, but not above or before me. That is not what “before me” means. Instead, the words “before me” mean, in my presence or before my face. God sees all. Yes, he even sees the heart of man. And in the first commandment, God is saying that he must be our only God. We are to have him as God, and none other. God looks down from heaven, as it were, and he dwells in the midst of his people. His people must be careful to put no other god’s in God’s place or before his face.
Our catechism actually addresses this. Question 53 asks, “What are we especially taught by these words, ‘before me,’ in the first commandment? Answer: “These words, ‘before me’, in the first commandment, teach us, that God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with the sin of having any other god.”
How many Gods are there, brothers and sisters? Truly, there is only one. There is only one God, who eternally exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And besides him, there is none other. Everything else that exists is his creation. His creation may be divided into two realms: the heavenly realm, and the earthly realm, the visible and invisible.
So if there is only one God truly, then where do these other “gods” that people have, which are forbidden in the first commandment, come from? Answer: men and women make gods for themselves out of the things that the one true God has made. They sin in a terrible way by treating created things as if they were the Creator of all things. Some will worship creatures of the heavenly and invisible realm. They will worship angels and demons as if they were divine. But they are not divine, really. They are angelic beings that God has made. They are creatures, not the Creator. Others will worship creatures of the earthly and physical realm. Some have worshiped earthly kings as if they were divine. Others worship nature. Still, others worship their ancestors or saints of old by bowing down to them and praying to them. So when we speak of men and women worshiping other gods, we do not mean that there are, in fact, other gods, but that men and women make gods for themselves out of the things which the one true God has made.
So what is the first of the Ten Commandments? “You shall have no other gods before me.”
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The Heart Of The Matter
Let us go now to the heart of the matter and ask, what does this commandment require of us, and what does it forbid?
You will notice that the first command is stated negatively. In fact, all but the fourth and fifth commandments are stated in a negative way. By “negative” I mean that the commandments tell us what not to do. “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image… You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain”, etc. The fourth and fifth are stated positively: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother…” The thing to recognize is that when a command is stated negatively, the positive side is implied, and visa versa.
The first commandment is, “You shall have no other gods before me.” So what does it forbid? Our catechism provides a very good answer to this question. “The first commandment [forbids] the denying, or not worshipping and glorifying the true God, as God and our God; and the giving that worship and glory to any other, which is due unto Him alone” (Baptist Catechism, 52). I think it would be really good for us to reflect deeply upon the question, what does the first commandment forbid? I’m afraid that many will read or hear the first commandment and think only in a superficial way about it. We hear the command, “You shall have no other gods before me”, and think, so long as I do not bow down before false gods, I’m good. But there is more to it, I think. Again, our confession helps us to see that there is more to it. What is forbidden in the first commandment? “The first commandment [forbids] the denying, or not worshipping and glorifying the true God, as God and our God; and the giving that worship and glory to any other, which is due unto Him alone” (Baptist Catechism, 52).
Did you notice how in the answer to the question, what does the first commandment forbid?, we find mention of both sins of omission and sins of commission? Please allow me to define those terms. I think they will be helpful to us.
We confess that “sin is any [lack] of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God” (Baptist Catechism, 17). When we transgress God’s law, we sin. Think about that for a moment. The world doesn’t agree with this. For many within the world, we sin (or they would probably say, do wrong, or something worthy of condemnation or canceling), when we violate social norms, or the opinion of the majority, or the opinion of the powerful. No, we say. We sin when we violate God’s law which he has revealed in nature, and much more clearly in scripture. We sin, not against the opinions of man or the norms of culture, but against God and his revealed will. In other words, God is the standard. God determines what is right and wrong. And he has revealed his standard to man in the world and through his Word.
We sin when we transgress God’s law, and we sin in two ways. One, we sin against God when we fail to do what he has commanded. These are called sins of omission. To “omit” is to “leave out or to exclude”. If God tells us to do something, like “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”, then we sin a sin of omission by failing to do so. When God’s law requires us to do this or that and we fail to do this or that, we sin a sin of omission. Two, we sin against God when we do that which he has forbidden. These are called sins of commission. To “commit” is to “carry out, to perform, or to act”. We sin sins of commission when we do what God has forbidden. “You shall not steal”, God says. If we steal, we sin a sin of commission, for then we have done that which God has forbidden us to do in his word. So “sin is any [lack] of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God” (Baptist Catechism, 17). In other words, we sin when we break God’s law either by failing to do what God has commanded or by doing that which he has forbidden.
These categories are immensely helpful, for they allow us to think about God’s law in a thorough way. Again, I would assume that many people would think they are good as it pertains to the first commandment so long as they don’t bow down in worship before kings or demons or some other creaturely thing, as if they were divine. God’s law says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” And the one who has a superficial understanding of God’s law says, no problem. I’ve never worshiped a false god in my life. First, I doubt that’s true. And second, I ask, is that really all the first commandment requires and forbids? In other words, have we kept the heart of the first commandment by simply abstaining from the worship of false gods? I say, no.
What does the first commandment forbid?
Well, the most obvious thing it forbids is “giving that worship and glory to any other, which is due unto [God] alone.” God is God. He is the one and only. Everything else is his creation. God is to be worshipped. Creatures are not to be worshiped. Do not give “that worship and glory to any other, which is due unto [God] alone” (Baptist Catechism, 52).
But when God’s law forbids us from having other gods before him, that which he requires of us is strongly implied. Not only are we to not worship false god’s, we are also not to deny, or fail to worship and glorify the true God, as God and our God. Or to put it another way, the first commandment requires us to “know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify Him accordingly (Baptist Catechism, 51).
A moment ago I said, I think it would be good for us to reflect deeply upon God’s commandments. To do so, we must first understand what the law requires and forbids. And after that, we must examine ourselves to ask, have I sinned against God and his law either by failing to do that which he has required or by doing that which he has forbidden? But there is yet more for us to consider. We ought also to also ask the question, have I kept this law, not only in an external way, but also in the mind and the heart?
Brothers and sisters, I’m sure you understand that it is possible to obey God’s law externally or superficially while violating the very same law in the heart. Jesus spoke to this, didn’t he? He was often interacting with Pharisees who thought they were righteous because they kept the law of God in an external way. What they failed to realize is that God’s law is to be kept from the heart. The command, “You shall not commit adultery” also forbids lust in the heart. The command, “You shall not murder”, forbids hatred in the heart, etc. And do not forget how Christ summarized the law of God. He said that the whole law hangs on these two commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37–39, ESV)
Think about that for a moment. What did Christ say was the essence of the law of God? Love is the essence. Love for God and love for neighbor is the heart of the matter. And as you know, Jesus did not invent this idea, but simply quoted from the law of Moses to make this point. When he said that we are to love God with all that is in us, he quoted Deuteronomy 6:5, and when he said that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, he quoted Leviticus 19:18. The point is this: God wants your heart, brothers and sisters. Never has he been interested in superficial and heartless worship. In fact, this kind of worship is most displeasing to him. This is why the Psalmist spoke to God saying, “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:16–17, ESV).
When God says, “you shall have no other gods before me”, he forbids us from “giving that worship and glory to any other, which is due unto Him alone” (Baptist Catechism, 52), and he requires “us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify Him accordingly (Basptist Catechism, 51). And of course, this worship is to be from the heart. God sees your heart, friend. Will you mock God by bringing him heartless and faithless worship? Lord, have mercy on us.
So how is this first commandment to be applied?
The most obvious application is to cease from worshipping false gods.
In the ancient world in which Israel lived all of the nations worshipped many gods. Nations would have national gods, families would have family gods, and individuals would have individual gods. Worshipping many gods was the norm. These gods were often associated with different parts of the natural world, so to worship this god would bring blessings as pertained to fertility, and to worship that god would bring blessings as it pertained to rain, and to worship this god over here would bring blessings as it pertained to protection. To worship one God, and to claim that this one God was the only God, was virtually unheard of in the ancient world. And yet, this is what the LORD demanded from Israel, his redeemed. You and I live in a culture that has been greatly impacted by the Judeo-Christian belief that there is but one God only. Monotheism is familiar to us, and even to those around us who do not profess faith in Christ. But when the LORD spoke to Israel, saying, “you shall have no other gods before me”, that was radical. Certainly, they were tempted to go the way the of the nations. They were tempted to have YHWH as their national God, but to worship other gods too for good measure. If you know Israel’s history, you know that they often succumbed to that temptation. The LORD would have none of it. “You shall have no other God’s before me”, he said.
Did you know that in the earliest days of the church Christians were accused by their Roman neighbors of being atheists? In fact, many Christians were put to death for this. Atheists? Doesn’t that sound like a strange thing for a Christian to be called? But it makes sense if you see it from the viewpoint of the Roman’s. The Christians refused to worship the Greco-Roman gods. They refused to offer incense to a statue of the Emporer and to call him Lord. From the Roman vantage point, the Christians were atheists, and they were therefore sometimes blamed for the troubles that fell upon the Empire, and violently persecuted. But the Christians could not worship both YHWH and Ceaser, or YHWH and Zeus, for God has said, “you shall have no other gods before me”.
And we should not forget that we have many, many brothers and sisters in Christ living in parts of the world today where polytheism is still the norm. In India, for example, there are many temples and shrines peppered throughout the cities. And many homes have shrines within them and at the front door. Christians who live in places like these find themselves in challenging circumstances. The cultural pressure to worship the gods of the nation, or the gods of their ancestors, is immense. But what has the LORD said? “You shall have no other gods before me”. The Christian cannot worship YHWH and Brahma, or YHWH and Vishnu. To do so would be to sin a sin of commission as it pertains to the first commandment.
Again, the most obvious application of the first commandment is to cease worshipping false gods. Brothers and sisters, if it is your custom to worship other gods besides the one true God, you must cease. Do away with the shrines. Do not bow down to, pray to, venerate, or worship any created thing, but God only. Do not worship angels or demons, ancestors or saints, the stars or the trees. Again I say, do not bow down to, pray to, venerate, or worship any created thing. Worship God alone.
But let us be sure to apply this, not merely in an external way, but also in the heart. Track with me here. Worship is from the heart. And what do men and women do in the heart when they bow before a false god? If they worship sincerely, they have in the heart reverential fear for the god they worship. They honor the so-called god. They trust the so-called god. Their hope rests upon the god, in one way or another. They take pleasure in the god and find peace in it. The point that I am making is this: those who bow before false gods do so because of what is in their mind and heart, and it is possible, therefore, and even quite common, for men and women to worship false gods in the heart, even if they never pray to a statue or bow before a shrine.
To say it differently, false worship is easy to identify when it takes the form of idolatry. When men bow before idols which represent created things, you know that the first commandment is being violated. But the first commandment can also be violated without idols. It can be violated in the heart and in the mind. This form of false worship can be more difficult to discern, but it is not impossible.
Let me ask you a few questions to see if there is a false god in your heart. What do you fear the most? Who do you respect the most? Who do you trust in supremely? Who or what brings you the most pleasure? What brings you ultimate peace? What brings you ultimate satisfaction? What do you live for above all?
The words “the most”, “supremely”, “ultimate”, and “above all” are very important parts of those questions. When trying to discern who or what our God is truly, we must deal with ultimate questions. If I asked you, what brings you satisfaction?, and you said, one thing that brings me satisfaction is spending time with family and friends, I would not charge you with having a false god. Family and friends are gifts from God. They are meant to be enjoyed. But please hear me: they cannot be ultimate.
What brings you ultimate satisfaction?, is a different question. And I’m afraid that many in this world, if they were to answer honestly, would say, family, friends, financial security, etc. What do you fear the most? Who do you trust in supremely? What brings you ultimate peace?
Perhaps another way to get to the heart of the issue would be to ask, who or what is your greatest love? Is it your spouse, your children, your home, your money, your pet, your health, your future plans, your nation, your comfort, your freedom? Be honest with yourself. Be honest with God. Please don’t misunderstand. It is not that we are to love God alone. No, it is right for us to have other loves too. After all the scriptures command us to love one another. Husbands are to love their wives, etc. But God is to be loved supremely. And here is the key: God alone is to be loved as God. Everything else is to be loved in its proper place and in a way that is fitting given its nature and purpose.
The first commandment is first for a reason, brothers and sisters. If we get this wrong, nothing else will be quite right.
In the first of the Ten Commandments, the LORD says, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Brothers and sisters, I have a question for you. Have you obeyed this law perfectly? We confess that we have violated this law in thought, word, and deed.
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The Gospel
God’s law is of use to us in that it tells us how we ought to live. We ought to live believing in God, having God our God, giving him the glory, honor, and praise that is due to his most holy name. This is the way of life abundant.
And you can see that God’s law is also useful to us in that it shows us our sin and convinces us of our need for a Savior. Did you not just confess that you have violated this law in thought, word, and deed? This means you are a lawbreaker. The law condemns you. You stand guilty before God if left yourself. That is the bad news. Now for the gospel, which means good news.
Jesus Christ, the Messiah, kept this law perfectly. Not only did he keep the first commandment, but all Ten. And not only did he keep the Ten, but the two which summarize them. He loved God and neighbor perfectly. And not only did he keep the moral law of God, he also kept the other laws of Moses too, for he was born a Jew, and lived under that Old Mosaic Covenant. Christ, the second Adam, the true and perfect man, was sinless. He was righteous. And this is why he can give his righteousness as a gift to all who believe in him.
Jesus Christ, the Messiah, obeyed God’s revealed will perfectly, and he also submitted himself to God to suffer in the place of those given to him by Father in eternity (see John 17). He suffered in the whole of life, and he suffered supremely on the cross where he died, not for his own sins, but for the sins of his people. The wages of sin is death, and Christ died in the place of sinners.
He paid for the sins of others. He bore the wrath of God. He died and was buried, and on the third day he rose again defeating sin, Satan, and death. This is why Christ has the forgiveness of sins and eternal life to offer to those who believe in him.
Lastly, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, applies this salvation that he has earned to those given to him by the Father through the preaching of the word of God and by the working of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit regenerates the elect in due time making them willing and able to believe in Christ to the salvation of their souls. And the Spirit renews those who believe so that they desire to keep God’s law. He empowers them and refines them continuously through a variety of means so that they are progressively sanctified. Those regenerated and renewed by the word and Spirit will over time come to love God and his law more and more and to hate all that is opposed to him.
This is the good news of the Covenant of Grace. Though all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And though it is true that the wages of sin is death, and that no mere man can be justified through the keeping of the law, God has provided a Savior, Christ Jesus the Lord. Salvation is given as a free gift to all who turn from their sins and believe in him.
Do you remember how near to the start of this sermon I said, the Covenant of Grace is not without law. Law and grace – law and gospel – are not contrary to one another. No, to use the language of our confession, they sweetly comply. The question is, what role does the law play in the New Covenant? Well, now you know. The law shows how we ought to live. The law also shows us our sin and sends us running to Christ for forgiveness. And the Spirit of God does also regenerate and renew us making us willing and able to believe upon Christ and to do what he has commanded. Though corruptions still remain, the Spirit sanctifies us to be obedient to God’s moral law, being moved by our Spirit-wrought love for God, and by our gratitude for the salvation that has been freely given to us through Christ.
