 Sunday school lesson one each week on each of the Ten Commandments and it will serve to bring us towards the end of our time in the law and the gospel. There will be multiple men up here, our brothers like Noel and Edgar and Jerome and I believe Michael Dinger as well. But I have the first commandment and I believe I'm signed up for the 10th as well. So let's begin with the first and what we want to aim for this morning is better understanding the first commandment out of the Ten Commandments and what God requires of us with it, what God forbids us to do with the Revelation of the 10th commandment and consider ways personally before God that we might repent in Christ and obey. So please engage this morning not only with me but in consideration of the Lord and in your fellowship with him. So the first commandment on the handout I've categorized this outline by the catechism questions. What is the first commandment? Second major point is what is required in the first commandment and the third point is what is forbidden in the first commandment and then the catechism questions are underneath there and then I left blank section below each one of those so that you can fill it out. So if you look under the first major point of your handout it says under underline phrase exposition of the first commandment. These five points are what we will go over so you can fill that in in the line and then add any references or any key things that are helpful for you. So let me answer the question from the catechism. The first commandment is you shall have no other gods before me. Let's look at Exodus 20. I'm going to assume you're familiar with all of what we have been learning prior to today with reference to the law and the Gospel so I'm not going to spend a lot of time on expounding the rules of how to interpret the commandment. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the relationship between the commandment and the Gospel though I want to not forget that. I'm going to focus on explaining the first commandment what not only what it means but what it requires and forbids. So the nature of the lesson is law. Keep that in mind as God in his grace convicts you of your sin to remember that Christ is your only hope not only a justification but sanctification and glorification and turn to him for strength and repentance as you see your own sin. Okay in the Exodus 20 I wanted to read the first two verses 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. So this commandment deals with God as our God. We haven't been redeemed like Israel from a land externally. We've been redeemed from the bondage of our sin by the blood not of a Passover lamb but of the Lamb of God Christ Jesus. So this commandment has even more weight considering our redemption in Christ Jesus. Okay so the first thing when we look at the commandment it's not many words but let's go through these five points. First of all it's a commandment. God is the mood is imperative. He's not stating a fact. He's commanding you with authority as your God. This is not a suggestion. It's not a preference of God's. It's not even him strongly urging you to do this. It's an authoritative command from God to his creature made in his image. I think that's worthy of emphasizing. And we know that the gospel we're no longer under the law but under grace but that under grace is not antinomianism. In fact the design of the gospel is that we might be freed from our sin by the blood of Christ redeemed with his ransom to serve the Lord and obey him. So the fact that this is a commandment and is authoritative is established by the gospel. The second point it is the first and foremost command. So if you look at Matthew 22 verse 37 Jesus is having an interaction with a scribe but he says something here about what is the greatest commandment in the law and Jesus said to him in verse 37 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. What I want you to see here is that in the two tables of the law the first four commandments and the last six commandments we have love that is directed and summed up as love towards God. You should have no other gods before me you should not make for yourself a graven image so forth. You should not take the Lord your God's name in vain and remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy but then the last six commandments have more of a horizontal emphasis. Love your neighbor as yourself. Honor your father and your mother and so forth. The fact that the two tables are arranged that way is not by accident. It's not haphazard. Jesus says here this is the first and great commandment. He's talking about loving God with all your heart soul mind and strength. That's the first and the great commandment and the second is like it. So if there's ever a rivalry between loving your neighbor and loving God you have a priority and it will help inform how you ought to love that neighbor that you believe is causing a rivalry. You love God and out of that table the first four commandments the first and greatest commandment summed up and loved the Lord your God out of those four now as we break them down the first one is this one. You shall have no other gods before me. It is first and foremost. Jeff Smith a pastor at Trinity Baptist Church quoted this obedience to this command is the starting point of all true obedience to God. He likened it into Mount Everest of the commandments. The next one it is personal. So we observed here that it is in the parative mood. It's a commandment. We observed it's the first commandment out of the 10 and we also see that God says the word you on your handout you shall and in the Hebrew it's not a plural you it's a singular you and so and seeking to observe the text and consider the word of God and God himself in this. He uses the individual and makes it personal. It emphasizes the personal nature of the commandment. In other words Ryan you shall have no other gods before me. You could say that about yourself. Let me give you an illustration. So let's say a family hat there's multiple children and a father says to his children gathered before him do not disobey your mother in my absence. He's speaking to them as a group. Is that authoritative? Yes. Is it applied to each of them? Yes. But when he looks at one of the children and he gets down like this and he says Johnny you shall not disobey your mother when I am my absence. It's individual. It carries an emphasis and that's the way that God has arranged or revealed his commandment. The next point is it acknowledges the reality of idolatry. So in the Exodus 23 he says you shall have no other gods so that begs the question are there other gods? If God says you shall have no other gods does that mean that there are gods other gods? The answer is no and yes and it depends on what you mean when you say no and it depends on what you mean when you say yes. But let's look at some texts to make this clear. So are there other gods? No. So let's go to 1 Corinthians 8 verse 1. Now concerning things offered to idols we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God this one is known by him. Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no other god but one. So in Corinth from chapter 8 to the end of chapter 10 there's an issue that Paul's addressing with concerning things offered to idols particularly food. And he even says in chapter 10 about fleeing idolatry. So Paul isn't just concerned with brotherly love by not making a stumbling block for your brother but he's also concerned about them misusing their liberty not only with reference to their brother but also with reference to their own soul because if they involve themselves in worship practices that they get this food from they're going to partake in the worship of demons. And Paul says I don't want you to do that. And he tells them you need to have the right mindset about what you need to do with your liberty. Look at me. I'm an apostle of the freedom to take a wife and I don't for the sake of the gospel. He's just talking about how he lays down his freedoms. Well one of the things they knew was there's no idols. There's no gods. There's no other gods in the world. There's only one god. I know that. I'm a Christian. So when I get this food that's sacrificed in a pagan temple I'm not what they're doing nothing. They're not worshiping a god. I'm not worshiping a god myself. My conscience is free and clear. I have this knowledge that there's no other god but Paul's addressing how you ought to use that knowledge. But the whole point I wanted to bring out is the Bible is very clear. There's a lot of text we could go to. So the answer is are there other gods? No. Well why is it in the commandment, the first commandment? Why would God add that? Well there's the yes part. Are there other gods in a sense? Yes. How so? Let's look at Romans 120. And you could write some of these references down or I'm not going to keep commending to you what you should or shouldn't. I'm just reminding you one last time here that that handout is meant to put this on and write what you think is helpful. No. Let's look at or I'm sorry yes. Let's look at how and what sense we say yes that there are other gods. So in Romans chapter one verse 20. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power in Godhead so that they are without excuse. Why are they without excuse? Because although they knew God they did not glorify him as God nor were thankful but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened professing to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like the corruptible man of birds four-footed animals and creeping things. So what unbelievers do and I want to make reference to believers because believers can practice idolatry also but what unbelievers do is they create false gods with their imagination or with worldly influence and we know that all that is in the world that exists in opposition to the father to God is under the sway of the wicked one for our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against rulers and principalities. But let's look at how believers can have false gods also Galatians 4-8. So back there in Romans though you could see how they exchanged they made a trade they said here's the incorruptible God the one true and living God and I'm going to now pick up corruptible image corruptible an image of corruptible man and worship the creature making creation a god now in Galatians 4 verse 8 but then indeed when you that's two believers did not know God you served those things which by nature are not gods so he's talking about with you believers you weren't served those things which by nature are not gods you had other gods in your worship but now after you have known God or rather are known by God how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage so what's happening in Galatia or what Paul is warning them against is turning back to these idols these false gods and it's interesting in Galatians you know circumcision is nothing Paul says we know from Pastor Rick's preaching it's dealing with justification by works so when Paul saying turning back to weak and beggarly elements there is a relationship between those two so people make a guide out of obedience to the law so Christians are not immune to fabricating or picking up ideas and affections that are directed not towards God but to false gods and the difference is these are being saved and will be saved they are saved they're being saved and they will be saved but unbelievers are in bondage and Paul's warning them that they not back return to the bondage which they once were in so idols and other gods do not exist no except in the hearts and minds of unbelievers and believers can fall into the sin of idolatry but are kept from bondage to it by the Lord any questions about that the yes and no so God is commanding in this he is acknowledging the reality of idolatry idols and false gods in the hearts and minds of satan in the world and says those lies which are not true gods you are not to have them you are not to treat them as only I ought to be treated last it forbids all other gods and we get that an exodus on your handout you can see at the top exodus 23 you should have no other gods before me so if you haven't ever had anybody explain the commandments like this or explain phrases prepositional phrases just expound text or heard it with reference to this that before me I don't know if you've ever thought about it but what does that mean well it does not mean ahead of me you shall have no other gods ahead of me it doesn't mean in front of me you shall have no other gods like in front of me I'm here and you're putting that in front of me or above me I'm down here and you're putting a god above me when he says before me what he means is in my presence in my sight when when a king sits on a throne and someone comes into the throne room he comes before the king and god says from his throne before me you shall have no other gods let's look at Genesis 7 1 I just want you to see this phrase in that usage then the Lord said to Noah come into the ark you and all your household because I have seen that you are righteous before me he doesn't say you are righteous above me you are righteous ahead of me or in front of me he says before me in my presence you are righteous in my presence in my sight look at Genesis 17 1 when Abram was 99 years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him I am Almighty God walk before me and be blameless he doesn't say walk ahead of me walk above me or in front of me he says walk before me in my presence and be blameless so when the commandment says you shall have no other gods before me it's absolute where is the where can you hide that god cannot see if you can find somewhere that god cannot see he still would not have an argument but at least you're understanding that this text deals with his presence so this is absolute it's it shows the it helps give a picture to in his presence therefore god forbids any and all other gods there is one you shall worship all the days of your life that is the true in living god who is your creator your redeemer your sustainer and your sovereign Deuteronomy 6 4 here oh Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one look at Deuteronomy 4 39 therefore know this day and consider it in your heart that the Lord himself is God in heaven above and on earth beneath there is no other so this first commandment now that we've exposit it I want to put a little bit more flesh onto this skeleton so to speak a little more meat on it just say let me add some more this commandment you know in a narrow sense when we say no other gods then we think about the Old Testament and we we know about the bales and the asterisks and the mollusks and then we think about false gods today you might ask the question you know well how far does this commandment reach and what does it look like so I wanted we're going to get into that but I want to just read this this commandment does not reach only to the bales of long ago normally to Allah or Buddha or the god of the watchtower society but also to anything that rivals God's place of propriety or steam or worship for example we're not going to be found worshiping Allah or Buddha here but we are not innocent when we trust in our wealth which the bible calls mammon you know you were in union with Christ and have been made the temple of living god and rightly have you chosen him by the spirit why then do you now or would you choose us other less explicit gods like man here's Matthew Henry talks about other gods to love to desire to delight in or to expect any good from any sinful indulgence is prohibited equally we are not only to allow any person or create a thing however valuable or excellent to rival God in our affections it doesn't matter how valuable to you your spouse is she should not be a rival to your affections to God or he should not be a rival to your affections to God same with children or friends all atheism infidelity and irreligion is opposition to God an attempt to be independent of him the proud man in his own is his own idol so you ask the proud man well i don't worship my family i don't worship money yeah but you have chosen yourself as a god and you are trusting in yourself and in effect worshiping yourself and you you expect men to worship you because you do that the covetous man makes a god of his wealth which he loves depends upon and expects happiness from the sensualists by his practices worships deities so-called as filthy as any scene in a pagan temple so before we get into what is required that's going to be the next section i wanted to remind you what the purpose of the law is law is we went through several of those with kahoons book but i want to remind you of a couple remember that this commandment is to expose and give you the knowledge of your sin even as a believer i would say especially as a believer don't shrink back and resort to your own good works as a shelter but let the piercing light of god's law expose remaining sin with reference to this commandment and remember the the other purpose of the law or one of the other purposes is to lead you to christ there has never been any hope in us there's not hoping you now if there were hoping you why did christ come if there were hoping you now why does he sit as high priest in heaven interceding for you turn to the lord trust in him make much of christ and delight in god the father through christ okay let's move to the next part what is required in the first commandment one there's three points for the those who are writing this down you must choose god as your god i'll leave it there for now these i put up there i didn't put it up here on your line but on your paper it says some some essential requirements of the commandment so it's not exhaustive and they're not the only essential ones these are some essential ones there's much we could spend a lot of time on this commandment and it if you looked in here which i was thinking about reading but when i read what it forbids it was like two pages this is uh the west minister catechism and confession and the larger catechism has a long section on all the different ways and what the commandment forbids and what it commands us to do so you could get that or get it online and read it and then it has all these references for you to go study if you're wanting more information but i i'm i'm focusing on some essentials this commandment and one of those essentials is you must choose god as your god remember the preface to the take commandments is i the lord your god so you must choose god as your god let's look at the joshua 24 verse 15 and if it seems evil to you to serve the lord choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve whether the gods with your father serve that were on the other side of the river or the god of the emirates in whose land you in whose land you dwell but as for me in my house we will serve the lord he chose he chose the lord this is a an illustration of the necessity in this commandment to choose the lord look at this principle in matthew uh 6 24 no one can serve two masters to gods 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 you must choose you must choose the lord and here's an illustration this is one i heard about from a preacher and i read about in a book a book different men at different ages so they that was good analogy when a couple decide to get married they've been courting and they make plans to get married and the day of the wedding comes they take vows they they make vows to each other before the lord i guess you say to the lord um but what they what they will often say and when you hear them is i take you john i'm using a common name i take you mary they're saying i choose you i choose you i take you in commitment i don't choose bill or sally i choose you and the commandment requires that you choose god as your god when he says you shall have no other gods before me remember the commandments also include the opposites you shall have me as your god you shall choose me me and when you're practicing sins like i was thinking about all the ways in which i try to justify and and practice sin with my simple heart and we have like a myriad of ways that we can justify things um don't think to yourself you're not choosing that sin you are choosing it choosing it the angry man says i can't stop being angry and he'll tell his counselor it's just not within me i'm not made that way and i heard a i think it was stewart scott say well jesus christ was compassionate therefore you need to repent because he's the image of god and you are to imitate him so when you get angry on a regular basis you're choosing that god to save you to protect you to help you get through it you are making a willful decision to go there instead of to god and god says over and over about these false gods what can they do they can't do anything for you it when you say anger i'm in a trouble help me god says what is that going to do for you it's like wood that can't do anything but sit there and fall over you can't choose anger and god you can only choose one or the other and god commands us in this text to choose him and not only in our words but in our spirit and in our deeds let's look at first kings 18 i want to give another illustration from the bible this is elijah where there's the test between the false prophets and their bail and i'm not going to read it all because it's long but let's start in 26 i'm i'm assuming you're familiar with this so if you're not you'll have to follow along now and go back and read it and put the pieces together first 26 so they took the bull which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of bail from morning even till noon saying oh bail hear us but there was no voice no one answered then they leaped about the altar which they had made and so it was at noon then elijah mocked them and said cry aloud for he is a god either he is meditating or he is busy or he is on a journey or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened so they cried aloud and cut themselves as was their custom with knives and lances until the blood gushed out on them and when midday was passed they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice but there was no voice no one answered no one paid attention we it's easy for me to laugh at that and i think that's good in a sense but at missing the point it's not good when we resort to sin to deliver us it's like that oh help me help me i'm like cutting myself help me and then elijah's saying no one's answering because it doesn't exist it can't help me so let me keep going verse 36 and it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that elijah the prophet came near and said lord god of abraham isaac and israel let it be known this day that you are god and israel and i am your servant and that i have done all these things at your word hear me oh lord hear me that this people may know that you were the lord god and that you have turned their hearts back to you again then the fire of the lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and it licked up the water that was in the trench now when all the people saw it they fell on their faces and said the lord he is god the lord he is god they chose they chose the lord prior to that they chose bail they're praying they're prophesying they're cutting themselves they're offering all all day long they're choosing bail choosing bail and then the lord reveals himself and then they choose the lord so the commandment command this is an illustration of what the commandment requires that you choose the lord next is you must know god as your god the catechism question up here what is required in the first commandment up at the top it says 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 so i'm kind of taking from that and making these points choose god it's uh where i would liken it into acknowledging him no god that's him the catechism and then to worship and glorify him so the next part i will put up here is you must worship and glorify god according so this no what is this no uh when we say when god says you should have no other gods before me and opposite he says you should have me as your god only he is the true and living god it requires us not only to choose him but to know him and what kind of knowledge ought we to have of him look at Jeremiah 9 23 thus says the lord let not the wise man glory in his wisdom let not the mighty man glory in his might nor let the rich man glory in his riches but let him who glories glory in this that he understands and knows me that i am the lord exercising loving kindness judgment and righteousness in the earth for in these i delight says the lord the bible uses those two words understands and knows it's it's uh it's putting them together you know how kind of like in exodus he says the lord forgives transgression iniquity and sin he could have just said sin but he says forgives transgression iniquity and sin to talk about how comprehensive his his forgiveness is well here when it uses these words which are similar in our own understanding understand no it's stressing the comprehensiveness of the the familiarity that we ought to have with the lord we ought not to just have a distant personal unacquainted knowledge like you have of a president of the united states i've never met abraham lincoln but i know about him and if somebody said ryan do you know abraham lincoln i could say yeah i know him in a sense that's not what god requires of us in the commandment and it's not only a knowledge about someone with whom you are acquainted at a surface level when we used to spend regular trips going down to bolivia i got to meet christians down there and i remember off the top of my head right now pastor matthew and even what all this time passed i'm very grateful for that i'm grateful to the lord for him and find him to be a very encouraging man but i don't i know him at a surface level i know that he's a believer and so far as i've seen what i've seen and i know that as we both are in union with christ we have fellowship together in the lord but do i know him am i intimately understanding him no i would say my knowledge of pastor matthew is surface not that it's meaningless but it's just not deep well in the same way our knowledge of the lord ought not to be shallow the commandment requires that we not merely have a shallow knowledge of him but we ought to have an intimate knowledge i heard some of these phrases from others it ought to be a joyful knowledge a thorough knowledge not comprehensive but thorough all encompassing of yourself vibrant look at psalm 139 as an illustration of the psalmist and his knowledge of the lord how it comes out in song oh lord you have searched me and known me you see how it's personal you know my sitting down and my rising up you understand my thought a far off you comprehend my path and my lying down you were acquainted with all my ways so there's not a word on my tongue but behold oh lord you know it all together you've hedged me in before behind and before and laid your hand upon me such knowledge is too wonderful for me it is high i cannot attain it where can i go from your spirit or where can i flee from your presence if i ascend into heaven you are there if i make my bed in hell behold you are there if i take the wings of the morning and dwell in the utmost parts of the sea even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me if i say surely the darkness shall follow follow on me even the night shall be light about me indeed the darkness shall not hide from you but the night shines as the day and the darkness and the light are both a light to you for you formed me in my inward parts you covered me in my mother's womb i will praise you for i am fearfully and wonderfully made marvelous are your works and that my soul knows very well my frame was not hidden from you when i was made in secret and skiffily rotten the lowest parts of the earth your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed and in your book they all were written the day fashion for me when as yet there were none of them how precious also are your thoughts to me oh god how great is the psalm of them if i should count them they would be more in number than in the sand when i wake i'm still with you oh that you would slay the wicked oh god depart for me therefore you blood thirsty men for they speak against you wickedly your enemies take your name in vain you see his knowledge of the lord leads to a righteous ending nation do i not hate them oh lord who hates you and do i not love those who rise up against you i hate them with a perfect hatred i count them my enemies search me oh god and know my heart try me and know my anxieties and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting so that's an illustration of what god commands us in this commandment that you shall have no other gods before me and you shall have him as your god only and you shall not only choose him and have an acquaintance with him but you shall intimately know him how is that communion possible that's open ended how is that fellowship with god possible um through the gospel um through the work of his son we um can be reconciled to him and um you think of like the intimate relationship of having him as a father and being adopted yeah one of those examples yeah amen the glory of the gospel look at what god has done is doing and will do to bring about obedience to this commandment the fruit of it seen here in the psalmist the joy of the psalmist the delight he has in god comes through the work of christ on his behalf god has sent his son into the world to bring you near to himself he causes you to choose him he causes you to delight in him you are a child of god in christ jesus the righteousness which you need to be justified has been attained it's finished why will you turn to sin now repent fellowship with the lord renew your mind with the text and see what the lord god has done for you you know and there's much to be had from seeing the person with the works when you see the works of god the father the son and the spirit you're getting uh from the word of god and history you're getting more knowledge of the lord and it should be appropriated by faith and lead to greater worship the last one on this is you must worship and glorify god accordingly so look at first chronicles 28 under this heading right here there could be a ton of things trust adoration prayer but i want to look at first chronicles 28 as for you my son salomon know the god of your father there's the no know the god of your father this is david talking to salomon so what is david's knowledge of the lord david look at the psalms that he wrote look at how he was with goliath you have defied the living god his trust in god and his fellowship with god through the gospel was deep and he says to salomon my son know okay and serve him with a loyal heart and a willing mind so under here a sub point would be sir you must worship and glorify god accordingly and that would involve you serving him with a loyal heart and a willing mind that loyal heart is a whole heart it's not a partial heart it's not faithfulness to say that i serve the lord with 70 percent of my heart if you go to an interview and you stand before your panel of people who are interviewing you say well yeah i would really like this job and i'm think y'all have a very good offer on the table but i'm just letting you know upfront i'm planning to work 70 percent of your work hours and for 30 percent of your work hours i'm going to go hang out with my friends and then when i do work i'm going to do it with half a heart i'm not going to really be that diligent at it if that's evil in your sight how much more to have that attitude with god think about that with a marriage uh yes i i desire to be wed to you but uh 20 approximate i have some desires for another woman and i plan on like uh entertaining that by spending some time with her after we get married that's evil but why will we do that with the lord why will we put up idols and worship them and say that this half-hearted luke warmness or partial love for the lord is what he desires i know you're not perfect i'm not perfect but what i'm what i'm saying is do not allow that sin to take rain over you by the thought process that luke warmness is what god desires adoration in psalm 95 trust and proverbs 3 prayer with thanksgiving and philippians 4 i could keep going and involves many things when we say you must worship and glorify god and what it forbids primarily or some key things forbidden is atheism and idolatry i didn't have time to read isaia 44 but the lord gives a test and it's a good asaia 44 6 through 23 i recommend you write that down at the very bottom of your page asaia 44 6 to 23 and read that um but we can be atheists practically when we say when we justify sin as if god doesn't see us or he doesn't know us or we deny his existence in order to do that sin that's a form of atheism and that this commandment forbids that let's pray and we'll we'll close uh were there any questions father in heaven we praise your name lord i know that um this commandment exposes sin and i thank you for and so far as i'm able to see that and not that i would stay there or that that in and of itself is the good but that i might come to you in christ i thank you lord for your salvation in him and i know that it's certain help me and help us lord to turn away from idols and false gods to no longer entertain the setting sin as a god that could deliver when it can't and um through this command lord i pray that it would uh lead to the sanctification of your church for your glory amen