"Thou shalt have no other gods before me"
Exodus 20:1-6
March 1, 2015 AM
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
I. Introduction (Matthew 5:18)
A.
The Ten Commandments
are THE most neglected part of the Bible today.
B.
Yet, these Ten
absolute Statements of right and wrong are repeated in some form or another
throughout every Book of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation!
C.
Most people believe
they are trying to keep these Ten commandments, but they can’t even name half of
them
D.
Most Christians even
have the false notion that they have all been done away with – no longer
necessary – which is rubbish (Matthew 5:18)
E.
These Laws of God,
the Ten Commandments are for our benefit
1.
Not to save us from
sin - Not to make us perfect
2.
But to humble us,
and show us we need a Saviour, who could make up for all our failures and sins,
by the Messiah’s perfect life and obedience to God’s Laws!
3.
And God’s laws are
beneficial, because they show us how to live – how to treat each other, and
especially how to worship the only God that there is!
F.
If no one else
obeyed these laws, at least Christians should, because they were given to us by
the same God that gave us Jesus! God did not save us to just live as we please, but by His rules.
G.
So, Over the next
few weeks, let’s let GOD define for us morality. Let’s let HIM tell us what is
right, and what is wrong. Let’s let God, the Creator of all things, show us how
to vote in these constant referendums about abortion, and same-sex marriage.
II.
Background (Exodus
20:1-3)
A.
These Ten
Commandments are God-Given (20:1)
1.
God gave these ten
commandments. Not Moses, and Not a king. But the highest authority
2.
These ten eternal
statements are not man-made
3.
They were NOT
developed by evolution
4.
No vote, or church
council came up with them
5.
But were WRITTEN
with the very finger of God
6.
On two tables of
STONE – to last – won’t fade away
7.
Proven by the very
fact of the continuing existence of the nation of Israel, and their Bible!
B.
These Ten
Commandments are Good
1.
The only way to have
a good world, is with good laws.
2.
And the only source
for good laws, is God!
3.
They are God’s
Design for Government, Religion, Personal Freedoms, and a Safe Society!
a.
God is setting up
for His now free people, a government
1)
NOT anarchy, where
everyone can do as they please
2)
Not a democracy,
where everyone gets to vote on everything
3)
But a Republic,
where everyone is ruled by Laws
4)
A Monarchy comes 450
years later under king Saul, and David and Solomon
b.
This was GOD’S ideal
way to run a country
c.
This is God’s way to
operate religion
d.
These are
protections of personal freedoms, and society in general
e.
They are timeless,
and they are perfect!
f.
As a matter of fact,
isn’t Ireland a REPUBLIC? Aren’t Enda Kenny and Joan Burton subject to the VERY
SAME LAWS as every one of us? AMEN!
C.
These Ten
Commandments are COMMANDMENTS (Ex 34:28)
1.
They are NOT God’s
Ten Suggestions, or Ten outmoded, ancient religious superstitions.
2.
Means that they are
spoken in full authority to direct you and me to do or not do something. Full
stop.
3.
As in, “That’s an
order!”
4.
There are God’s
demands upon the human race – that’s why most people absolutely reject them
5.
And believe me, HE
has all the authority He needs to make these commands
D.
These Ten
Commandments Start with God – not with you and me!
1.
They explain Who God
is (Ex 20:1-3)
a.
He is the LORD –
Jehovah God
1)
Not a wimpy, neutral
god, who never interferes in people’s lives
2)
Not a lovey-dovey,
effeminate god, who doesn’t care how people live, or what they do, because he
just always loves them, and always forgives them!
b.
He is THY God – a
very personal God – THANK GOD!
1)
Ps 23
“The LORD is MY Shepherd”
2)
Ps 27:1 “The LORD is
my light and my salvation”
3)
Zech 13:9
“The LORD is my God”
4)
Heb_13:6 “So that we
may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do
unto me.”
c.
The Saving God –
saving people from the bondage they always get into
1)
Brought all of the
nation of Israel out of the world’s most powerful empire of the day, Egypt,
without an army, weapons, diplomacy, terrorism
2)
He can save ANYBODY
from any sin and any bondage they find themselves in
3)
That’s why we live
by these ten commandments… because we are obligated to!
2.
How we treat Him
(Deut 6:5) – love Him
E.
These Ten
Commandments focus on how we treat others!
1.
It is not all about
US folks
2.
Eternity, heaven,
hell, righteousness, sin… they are not about how YOU feel today, or how happy or
sad you are, or how many problems, or blessing you have
3.
These commands are
based upon what GOD thinks, and what God SAYS!
4.
Ethics, morality,
all morality comes from the God who wrote these commandments!
5.
Listen! There is a
GOD in heaven, who made everything there is, who is holy, and right, and will
judge each and every one of us, so you had better be doing what GOD says!
6.
Something is wrong
because GOD said it is wrong. Period. Not because it was wrong way back then,
and it is okay now, NO!
F.
As a matter of fact,
all these Ten Laws, can be condensed and summarised into TWO laws (Matthew
22:35-40)
a.
Love God supremely
b.
And love one another
III.
Message
A.
The First
Commandment - No Other Gods (Exodus 20:3)
1.
Pretty clear, don’t
you think?
2.
No other gods
besides the Jehovah of the Bible!
3.
There are so many
gods (1Cor 8:5,6)
a.
The god of this
world – Satan
b.
Demons,
principalities and demonic powers
c.
There is such a
major push today to worship either nothing, or anything except the God of this
Book (2Thes 2:4)!
4.
Yet, There is only
ONE God
a.
The God of Israel –
not a European god like Thor, or American god, or African god. Psa 72:18
Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous
things.
b.
He is THE ONLY REAL
GOD that there is (Isa 44:6,8)
c.
He is the Creator
God – not an evolutionist (Isa 37:16)
d.
He does not give His
glory to another – doesn’t share His glory with anything or anyone else (Isa
42:8)
e.
There is only ONE
Saviour (Isa 45:21)
f.
That’s why we know
that Jesus is not “A” god (John 10:30)
5.
YOU MUST CHOOSE /
decide / make up your mind
a.
Choose to Own only
one God
1)
Do you want to live
well? Live simply? Have only one God! Monotheism!
2)
Hold to no other
gods, except Him
a)
Not Allah of the
Muslims
b)
Not Hari of the
Sikhs
c)
Not the millions of
gods and goddesses of the Hindus
d)
Not the Ancestors of
the Chinese and Japanese
e)
Not Jupiter of the
Romans
f)
Not Zeus of the
Greeks
3)
Some of you own an
expensive TV, Netflix, Movie channels
4)
Some of you own a
fancy holiday home
5)
Some people own a
load of money
6)
Some of you have a
big fancy job
7)
When those things
are more important than your walk, worship of almighty God, your time spent
serving others as a CHRISTIAN, then you have broken the first commandment!
8)
You and I need to
OWN one God, and only one. Everything else is fluff, unimportant!
b.
To Be Owned by only
one God - To serve only one God (Mt 4:9,10; 6:24; 1Cor 6:20)
c.
To FEAR only one God
– worry only about HIS pleasure, or displeasure. 1Sa 12:24
Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for
consider how great things he hath done for you.
d.
To OBEY only one God
(Acts 5:27-29). If you obey ANYTHING ELSE besides God, then you are BREAKING
God’s FIRST COMMANDMENT
1)
Your PILLOW –
laziness on a Sunday morning when we have CHURCH is SIN!
2)
Your boss – if he
gave you more money to work on a Sunday
3)
Your hobby – if it
is more fun, more “rewarding” to miss God’s word, and God’s people on GOD’S DAY,
then that is SIN!
4)
Your wife or husband
5)
Your children –
constantly only doing what makes them happy, but not GOD
6)
Porn – obeying your
lust for filth
7)
Cigarettes
8)
A bottle, and
buddies at the pub
9)
Your friends – just
living to please them, and do what they think
10)
Your belly – just
walking around doing things that only please YOU
11)
Then you need to
repent of giving in to any of that!
e.
In other words,
You must choose, to NEVER put or allow
ANY OTHER authority ahead of God! NOTHING, nor no one!
1)
Don’t tell ME that
you are “keeping the ten commandments”, and yet you so easily obey the world
culture around you over God’s laws!
a)
Giving into to
peer-pressure doing whatever your “friends” say do
b)
Giving into your
emotional feelings, into lustful desires
c)
Staying in bed on
Sundays
d)
Never reading your
Bible from cover to cover in a year
e)
Never taking time to
walk with God in prayer throughout your day
f)
Never obeying God
when he says wine is a mocker, and strong drink is raging,
g)
Never apologizing
for your filthy mouth, or your wandering eyes, or your angry and critical
spirit!
2)
All of those things
are signs that you ARE BREAKING God’s FIRST of His ten commandments!
3)
And don’t you tell
me it doesn’t matter! James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he
is guilty of all.”
6.
Atheism is not the
absence of God, it is the choice to NOT believe there is a God.
a.
You HAVE that
choice!
b.
But once you have
made that choice, to believe that there is NO God, you have condemned yourself
to live in just as much in bondage as someone who falsely worships a thousand
false gods!
c.
Because you are
deciding to remain a solitary life, strapped to nothing, floating in the “sea of
life,” who will end up stressed out, panicking, paranoid, worrying about
everything and anything in the end, because none of it can never make sense, or
be put in perspective other than your own.
d.
Just be honest and
admit that you have just taken the lazy way out, by choosing to believe there is
not any God. Fine.
e.
I choose to believe
the God of this Book, who has proven He is there, and proven that He cares! And
not only that, but I choose to OBEY the God of this Book!
7.
God obviously is
jealous when we choose otherwise (Dt 4:23,24; Ex 34:14)
a.
To obey, love, live
for, hold to any other god, is a mockery of the only God that there is
b.
You see, If He is
all that there is – if He is the only real deal…
c.
And yet people are
constantly living under the power, the authority of everything and everyone
BESIDES HIM, then that is bad! Seriously bad!
d.
He is jealous
because He has a heart! God is not passive, or unfeeling – He has a heart that
gets hurt by our rejection!
e.
He is very
protective of His honour
1)
When we give what
belongs to God to something or someone else besides God, it makes Him jealous
2)
When we give our
obedience, Our heart, our fear, Our money, our time, our worship, our efforts to
mere men, or to false gods, or to fake religions, then OBVIOUSLY God is going to
be upset!
3)
Just like you would
be!
a)
If someone took the
money that you earned, and instead of paying YOU, they paid someone who didn’t
work for it
b)
If you bought a car,
and the dealership GAVE that car to someone walking down the street, you would
be furious!
c)
If you got married,
and your wife spent all her time with other men, you would be furious!
8.
Summary
a.
The only way to have
a good world, is with good laws.
b.
And the only source
for good laws, is God!
c.
And He wants to be
known as the only God there is, and the only Person to obey. You don’t need to
go from country to country, and culture to culture and religion to religion to
find out what is right or wrong.
d.
To have anything in
our lives that interrupt the FIRSTNESS of God in our lives, is SIN.
IV.
Conclusion
A.
Oh, that is just the
FIRST Commandment of God
1.
Have No Other Gods –
The First Commandment (Exodus 20:3)
B.
It’s funny how the
Ten Commandments are THE most neglected part of the Bible.
C.
These Laws of God,
the Ten Commandments are for OUR benefit
1.
Not given by God to
ruin our freedoms
2.
Not given to us to
save us from sin
3.
Not even to make us
perfect
4.
But to humble us,
and show us we need a Saviour, who could make up for all our failures and sins,
but HIS perfect life and obedience to the Laws!
5.
And they are
beneficial, because they show us how to live – how to treat each other, and
especially how to worship God!
D.
Questions
1.
Is there anyone in
this room this morning, who will admit, they have broken these two commandments?
2.
Is there anyone
ready and willing to stand before God’s judgment for such sin?
3.
Would you not rather
humble yourself, and believe that GOD already made it possible to forgive you at
Christ’s expense?
4.
Will you let Jesus
save you now?