Exodus 20 - Bible Study (The First Commandment) - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Exodus 20 beginning in verse 1 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 father's on the children of 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 made it holy honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you 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 your neighbor's house you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbors and when all the people saw the thundered the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoke that people were afraid and trembled and they stood afar off and said to Moses you speak to us and we will listen but do not let God speak us lest we die Moses said to the people do not fear for God has come to test you that the fear of him may be before you they may not sin the people stood far off while Moses journey the thick darkness where God was let's pray together father help us really believe that who we are speaking to now and who we have been worshiping is the same God we just read about give us that revelation may it be true within our hearts may it touch us Lord and may bring every fiber of our being into the fear of the Lord into a place in which we stand in awe of your Majesty in your holiness give us clarity of mind make complex things simple Lord through the power of your Holy Spirit and give us words of wisdom may every mind and heart be attentive to your word tonight and may Jesus speak Laura fide in light of the 10 commandments we pray this in Jesus name amen you may be seated pop quiz it's always exciting to come to Bible study because we never know how these chapters will be covered sometimes they lead more to a preaching segment sometimes they're very teaching sometimes they're very interactive sometimes there are pop quizzes and this is one of those moments I hope you studied who here knows close your Bibles all of you close your Bibles close your BIOS I know there are definitely a few that we're here probably last week they did this I can tell by your face don't worry who here knows the ten commandments by heart stand up and share with us the ten commandments okay yes preferably go for it don't worry you other guys know carved images um do not blaspheme keep the Sabbath day holy honor your father and mother um do not murder do not commit adultery do not steal do not bear false witness and you're not covered you got it yeah unfortunately don't have a reward for you and but does anybody else in all the time Commandments I won't make you say it but I just want to see you show of hands hand now you know it in the KJV for sure - right anybody else in all the Ten Commandments Tim yes Eva you know what an Arabic morning you don't hear anybody know it in Arabic yeah okay impressive alright the Ten Commandments if you think we're gonna go over all of these tonight we're not though they may seem simple and straightforward there's so much to each of these Commandments that for us to just skim through them would really do injustice to our understanding of who God is and what he asks of us and even the first two verses of this chapter give us an insight of how important these Commandments are read with me in verse 1 it says 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 so what can we say about these first two verses by the way this will be more of a teaching these next few weeks will be very more teaching than preaching and that's what I'm planning on but it can turn otherwise the reason is because I want us to really grasp this and here's here's the aim of it by the time we finished the Ten Commandments my desire my prayers that we would all be exhausted that by seeing the standard of God we would literally be breathless at the standard that he asks of every human being only to run to the inexhaustible grace of God that we may be exhausted of the standard of the law so that we can run to the inexhaustible grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord and so we're gonna take our time with this and this is very important to the Lord and the first two verses tell us why it's important to the Lord can you can you spot an inside of why this is so significant great observations so we see the Lord here reminding the people of what he's done before he tells him what to do that's significant absolutely yes that's the main point God here is speaking directly to the people he's not speaking through his prophet he's not speaking through a mediator you know what he's doing here he's saying Moses step aside I have something to say myself now it's one thing for a king of a city or a nation to deliver a message through a faithful messenger it's another thing when the King steps off his throne so to speak and gives the message himself and that's exactly what God is doing he wants there to be no misunderstanding he wants you to be no misinterpretation he doesn't want there to be any sense in which people might say well this is a man thing this is not a god thing God is coming and breaking all those things that could be possible and he's making it very very very clear that this is my heart this is my commands this is from my voice directly that's significant not only that when he gives the Ten Commandments do you know how he gives it does anybody know how by the end he writes it with his finger on what tablets of stone and so he even puts his finger on it he doesn't have Moses write the commandments he speaks to the people directly and when he wants to establish its permanence to the people of Israel for all generations he says you know I'm gonna do this with my finger on a tablet of stone and two of them people get all the beatty about how many were on each or why - that's not significant what's important is that God wrote it with his finger God spoke to people directly and it was terrifying I mean earlier we read about how Moses and all the Israelites were coming up to the mountain and they heard thunder and when God spoke it was like thunder have you ever been in a storm have you ever heard thunder Rumble your house have you ever been awoken by a storm at night you woke up to thunder imagine the amplification of God's voice with every single one of these commands given to the people it shook their bones it brought them to the place where they said we can't even hear anymore Moses from now on you have to speak so this is weighty this is not light this is not an email sent this is not even something spoken through a messenger it's not a thus says the Lord a Jeremiah and Isaiah no this is move aside prophet I'm gonna I'm gonna speak myself so we should pay careful attention to what these things mean and before we explore these Commandments and we don't know how much we'll cover tonight you mentioned something about verse 2 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery now why do you think God would bring that up again he brought up earlier why is he reminding them yes for them to be humbled absolutely be reminded for what I've done for you yes absolutely we do need constant reminders yes sure he's reminding him of the deliverance so that they can be faithful yes sure so there's a confirmation here you guys all acknowledging that I delivered you absolutely consider the rest of the chapter to why he's doing this yes I thought it's like when you like you almost plot them out so now there is yes so you're my possession I delivered you we talked about eagle's wings last week of how God stirred up the nest and fluttered over his his young and he brought them out yes they are his own possession but remember here there's all you guys all touched on something and one of the main things to to add to that is that he's about to give these important commands and before he does it he reminds him of his grace he did not give the commands to the people of Israel and then say if you keep these I will deliver you he delivered them in spite of that he pulled them out of bondage he pulled him under the out of the grip of Pharaoh and out of that grace she says now be motivated by my kindness be motivated by my consideration be motivated by my act of deliverance to obey so he's reminded me saying listen I saved you before you obeyed anything before there were tablets of stone before you looked at anything I saw you I heard your cry I sent my prophet and I delivered you now obey is that God's order even in the New Testament absolutely God saves us and were motivated by grace to obey Him I give you my life Lord because you gave your life when I was yet an enemy of God you still saved me here's my life and it puts a whole different spin to this thing called obedience it's done enjoy and he's establishing that even now in the hearts of the people listen I saved you remember where you came from remember how I came with a mighty arm of deliverance and brought you to myself now now that I've done that walk in my ways walk in my ways do you see the tone here and so don't don't get it twisted we're not in Egypt right now and these people are not in bondage and God says you know before I deliver you a bait make a testimony for my name obey these 10 commandments memorize them obey them for a week or two and then I'll see if you're worthy of deliverance no he pulled them out even in the midst of their complaining their disbelief at the Red Sea few days after they cry and he's faithful and so he says because of my grace of my faithfulness to you would you return it to me with the revelation of my goodness and then he gives the Ten Commandments with that tone that's important because people have this wrong on understanding of obedience God delivers you out of slavery what to put you in slavery again our Commandments to put you in bondage to infringe upon your freedom no that's not what the commandments are for Commandments are for your freedom they're for you to benefit and to enjoy the most out of this life in your god-given and God ordained purpose those are Commandments they are guard rails they keep you any loving father takes a child and puts them in a backyard with a fence especially if there's a highway or a country road by there why to protect that child would it be loving for a father to let that child go run loosely for the sake of freedom and independence no we would look at it and say that's abuse to let somebody run wild without any sense of direction or guidance that is not freedom that is not love and so for somebody say Oh God is putting he's a joy kill he's a buzz kill all these commands that I got to follow you don't understand God's heart he's a father and he wants you to walk in the fullness of this life and so before we even explore these Commandments I wanted to take our time here to really unpack these Commandments and their purpose before we identify each one what are the purpose of the Ten Commandments and there's more than one there's a main one but what are the purpose is of the Ten Commandments why is he giving out these laws we know yes to give him a sense of direction in life absolutely but there are others guess here's the reality a new believer might come up to you those who are older in the faith and say I read something in the in Exodus 20 about these Ten Commandments what do I do with those what are the purpose of those is that just for Israel is it for me Old Covenant New Covenant what do I do yes this these Commandments I think they're supposed to help us so these Commandments are the expression of the greatest commandment in the one second right second one to it it's good yes absolutely you said that this is a standard you said something that may be not murder I would say probably half of us in here have committed murder saying what Jesus says if you hate your brother you've committed murder in your heart Jesus does something with this law greater than what we see in here remember that remember that yes so we've covered that was great so we have this idea of fulfilling the greatest commandment loving God and loving our neighbor and that is fleshed out in these Commandments we have this understanding of being holy and set apart as a people and we have this understanding that we cannot meet this standard here and those are actually the three purposes the main purposes of the law number one they reveal God's character and nature now we're gonna go scripture heavy today like I said there's gonna be more teaching because I want you guys to have these verses to explore and understand this and there's a lot of debate and clash between Christians today about how this law relates to Christians today and so let's look at it in the immediate context first it reveals God's character and nay Leviticus 19 - we know this verse and Peter even quotes it he says you will be holy as I am holy and after that he begins to give some of the commandments that he gave in Exodus 20 and so in light of the holiness of God in us imitating him the ten commandments are given even in Leviticus 19 some of them at least and so we have to see this and understand this is revealing God's nature and character he is a moral law Giver he has a standard of living and that is if we understand apologetics very important because we must understand the dangers of subjective moral reasoning to simplify that we do not believe as believers that you have a standard of right and wrong and you have a different standard right and wrong and you have your own and you have your own you can determine that no there is an objective moral Giver God and this is where we get it from an atheist would argue that and a lot of debate goes around well if you don't have God if you don't have his word how do we have morals how do we determine how we live and the argument comes back and says well we developed our understanding of morality through evolution and through all these different things and our society determines that and I would say well there was a man who thought killing Jews and different people that did not fit his race he thought it was good to do that for his society and for his nation and who are you if you don't have an objective moral standard to say that that is wrong for a man it seems right to him to rape a woman to fulfill his desires now if you don't have a objective more reasoning how can you say no to that and how can you tell him he's wrong somebody in this place can feel that it's right to punch somebody else in the face and if we don't have this standard if we don't haven't understand right and wrong who are we to say you can't do that do you understand the chaos that comes from not having a moral law and so we understand that God has a way of living that this is a reflection of who he is that he is pure that he compassionate that he is not self-centered and he wants us to imitate that any does so by dishing out these Commandments to his people so number one we understand who God is through these things he's not like the pagan gods that we read of and these Greek gods that murder each other and sleep with one another and have offspring and they eat their offspring and all this weird stuff he's holy he's holy he's transcendent he's immutable he's constant he is love he's good and these commands reveal who he is secondly they provide once again guidelines for the people to live in harmony and to live in holiness right what was the purpose of these Commandments if you understand especially the later books of the Pentateuch he gives all these Commandments and it gets even more detailed about what they are to eat and how they are not to mix fabric and how they are to to keep certain festivals why did he ask for those things okay harp posture but remember remember what he said in Exodus 19 that he was he was gonna wat redeem unto himself a kingdom of what priests that they would be a what holy nation so what was the purpose of these Commandments one of them at least that they would stand out amongst their neighboring nations that all these other nations that worship these false gods Bale gnash wrath and all these different goddesses and gods Israel would stand on they would show these different people how they serve the living and true God through their practices so a lot of those chemicals really nitty-gritty details the dietary laws and all those things we have to keep in mind the historical context that God was trying to pull out of them the practices of the world so that they would stand out not just in word but in deed that they would not imitate and I think that's a wonderful principle for Christians today tuned we're gonna get into how this relates if we if we look like the world smell like the world talked like what entertain ourselves like the world how are people gonna see something different I'm not talking about you attaining your salvation by living in a certain way or dressing a certain way I'm just saying if we look like them how are they going to see anything different if we sound like them and talk like them and there's a principle there remember every scripture is god-breathed and is useful for our teaching instruction for training and righteousness so there's principles even in those things that are obsolete and do not relate to us today because of the New Covenant keep that in mind you mentioned something and this is important to how these laws are the practical means by which we fulfill what Jesus said is the greatest commandment what is the greatest commandment love the Lord your God with what heart and with all what your strength with what else mind and soul every fiber of your being should be to love him what's the second one lettuce like it love your neighbor as yourself and he says this in Matthew 22 when somebody a lawyer asked him that question and you can write this down in Matthew 22 35 to 40 I won't read it but just that's the reference Matthew 22 35 to 40 a lawyer asked him what is the greatest commandment and you know what he doesn't go to the 10 commandments he says to love the Lord your God right with what we just said and love your neighbor as yourself for the law and the prophets depend upon these so to love the Lord and to love your neighbor as yourself every commandment is hinge upon that truth so even as we look at the Ten Commandments it's a fulfillment of both of those things right the first four Commandments are regarding our relationship to God the last six commandments are how we relate to one another so we see the first four loving the Lord our God with everything within us and we see the last six loving our neighbor as we would want to be treated so we see it fleshed out here and that's you're absolutely right to provide moral guidance for the people of Israel right so that there would be harmony in society laws provide just that can you imagine a world in which no would be held accountable for what they did absolute chaos and that's why government is instituted by God Romans 13 to what provide the sword for those who disobey the law and to reward those who do good that's why we must pray for our government they are God's people God's judges in this land in this time that represent his expression of Wrath and celebration over good and so laws provide order order provides harmony that's why you can sleep at night safely and some of us have misfortunate experiences where people try to break in or whatever but we have this general fear that if you do something wrong you're going to be held accountable for it so don't don't buy into this well these Commandments hinder my expression of identity hold up there just think for a moment before you speak and just regurgitate something that you heard in college study if you really want to be serious about your life it shows us what the moral guidelines for the people of Israel and even for us today and lastly this is the main thing Paul even answers the question for us why the law and he gives us different reasons but all have a central point romans 3 19 to 20 now we know what that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God but no man will be justified by the works of the law since through the law comes the knowledge of sin so we know romans 39 to 20 tells us that the law the purpose of the law given preach proclaimed written however is expressed is to give the world a taste of humility regarding themselves so that every mouth may be stopped stop them what any boast of self right business any attempt to think that you have the right to inherit eternal life based on your behavior because James tells us when you break one of the law you break them all think of it this way if you were to contact me via phone and call me all that takes is one digit off and you can't get ahold of me you just dial one wrong number and you're calling somebody else and in light of that same principle one command broken you have no contact with God you have no way to reach God you have no way to stand in this presence forever you have officially disqualified yourself from being in this presence for all eternity because you did not meet his standard and so that's why the law is important in our evangelism because there's a lot of people more than anything that are convinced that they are good you know you can go to hell two ways just being really bad and knowing it and by your self deception of thinking that you're really good and so you hear this from people well I'm a good person and this is the purpose of the law you bring it before them like a mirror you say do you meet this standard and somebody like what you mention might bring up what I've never murdered somebody and Jesus all right well let me bring it up here if you hate your brother you've committed murder in your heart so you're a murderer so even in Matthew five when Jesus steps on the scene whatever justification these Pharisees might have had concerning their spotless though they were hypocrites and though they were something else in dark than in the light any sense of boasting would have been destroyed by Jesus upholding and enhancing enlarging this understanding of the law by bringing it to a whole nother standard and that's grace Jesus what grace and truth came through Jesus Christ and so grace is not this freedom grace is yeah if you think it you did it and so Romans tells us that it keeps us it keeps us in a place of humility and brings us to a place of realizing what I'm in true another versus Galatians Galatians 4 rather Galatians 3:19 why then the law he answers it again it was added because of transgressions it was added because of transgressions and Romans 5:20 it's another verse it says now the law came in to increase the trespass and so what does the law do well romans 2 tells us what that the law is given and it's sealed somewhere where is it the conscience right so those who are not under the law those who do not practice a lot those who are not under these teachings these Gentile people that didn't have the law God planted a little chip called your conscious in your mind to understand right from wrong everybody has a general understanding that if you take something that's not yours you don't want to be caught doing that because it's wrong it's built within our system God put that in there now what does the law do the law comes puts it on stone so to speak puts it on paper so that when we look at it it arouses and it shows and it puts the spotlight on what's already in our conscience it enhances trespass so to speak Paul says it even in Romans 7 he says well the law is not this laws not simple because if it wasn't for the law I wouldn't know what coveting is I wouldn't know what this looks like and so what does it do it arouses sin in me it causes me to realize what this thing is and how would the file's god and how it defiles my relationship with others and so the law comes in to strike the nerve so to speak in us to show us what it is in detail and to confirm that our conscience is yes what God has put in us to tell us right from wrong so then I asked the second question if that's the case what do we do with the law what do we do with this still study it to know what God expects of you because we know that in this these last verses especially that the what the law is a schoolmaster it brings you to a place where what you realize that your mouth has stopped you can't boast in your righteousness you can't boast in your perfection you can't do any of that it arouses sin within you it shows you it highlights the iniquity that dwells within and what does it caused you to do Paul says it causes you to go to Christ it literally brings you to a place where you say I need a Savior I'm in trouble if God's standard is this and I broken 18 of those by the time I had breakfast this morning and so what do I do in the Paul says it brings it to Jesus it makes you run and fall upon his feet and to run at the cross towards it at the foot of the cross plead for his blood plead for his forgiveness and to realize that I cannot do this that's what really repentance is repentance in one sense is just giving up sure we have this understand that repentance is what turning from your sin turning from your way you think about sin and how it defiles our relationship with God but repentance is also turning away from your attempt to do good works to inherit salvation that's repentance as well it's giving up on your own efforts and falling upon Christ and his deeds and the fulfillment of the law that he performed on your behalf so it's a schoolmaster it's a tutor it brings you to Jesus so what do we do with it because Jesus fulfilled the law this is an important question Jesus fulfilled the law so we are no longer under under the law that's all over the New Testament so we read this and we're gonna spend a few weeks on this and we go well how does that relate to me as a new covenant believer that's trusting that Jesus Christ walk the law out for mean that it is imputed unto me by faith and by faith alone is this as a historical document is this this the same way we look at circumcision and say well that's what they did in the Old Covenant but neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters but it changed life what do we do we're under grace pauses are over you're under grace he's he's the apostle of that message grace grace grace not law grace no he answers it in Romans 7:12 he says something about the law before we get into how we relate to he says so the law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good so he he he doesn't speak against the law he says it's good it's holy it's something to regard because the opposite understanding of this is well since we're under grace and the law doesn't apply gungho let's just do what we want his blood covers us and Paul answers that too this is in Romans 6:15 what then are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace three words by no means you've completely misunderstood what it means to be under the law and under grace in no way does it give a license for somebody to live in sin because we had a transfer of covenants he says no to be under the law this is so important pay attention to this to be under the law it's for us to be under the power and authority that it carries to judge us for not fulfilling it to be under the law is to be under the condemnation and the penalty of not keeping the law that we are held accountable for breaking it that's what it means to be under the law now why are we no longer under the law because Jesus absorbed the wrath of God for you and me Jesus not only fulfilled the law pay attention this is the gospel I pray that we would never become dull to this gospel I love what Paul says in Romans 1 he's talking to Christian he's like I can't wait to come to you so I can preach to you the gospel it's like Paul they're saved yeah but it never never never stops getting glorious when you hear it Jesus the man that we worshipped before we opened this book together he walked in the flesh to do what to fulfill the law he said that I've not come to abolish it I've come to fulfill it and he kept it perfectly and he's the faithful Israelite and what does he do by faith when we say I believe in Jesus Christ his faithfulness to the law is transferred to your account as though you yes you and me sinner liar adulterer murderer covenant breaker is seen by God the judge as perfect and holy not only that but he takes our broken law what we could not keep and he drinks every drop of the wrath of God upon the cross that's what we call the beautiful exchange his righteousness is your righteousness your condemnation becomes his condemnation that's the gospel and so when we say were not under law we are no longer under the penalty or the condemnation that comes from breaking the law because Jesus took it for us praise be to his name and so we understand that he says listen just because you're not under law doesn't mean that you can just do whatever you want you're not under the penalty of the law and something happens with this gospel something happens it's not just this Judas soul it's not just this positional thing that happens in which we walk with that wonderful truth as wonderful as it is something supernatural happens and these prophets have all testify of it they say you know this law that you could not keep I'm gonna write it on your hearts that not only is this something in which you come out of the condemnation that it brings to your life but something that's outside of you something that you look at every day say oh I can do this I'm gonna imprint it on your heart that's the born-again experience that when I yes put my faith in Jesus Christ something happens in me where the Spirit of God comes and he writes not on tablets of stone but tablets of hearts and he writes the law so the law now becomes something that I desire it is an effortless shift within the way I look at sin and obedience and it is this desire now in me dcy salvation is nothing short of supernatural Jeremiah says in jeremiah 31:33 and this is the covenant that will make with the house of israel after these days declares the lord that i will put my law within them I'll put my law within them ezekiel says the same thing Ezekiel 36 20 27 he says what and I will put my spirit in them to cause him to walk according to my statutes and be careful to obey my rules Deuteronomy talks about the circumcision of the heart and so we see that there is this promise to come yes that Jesus comes and he removes us from the condemnation of love but he also by the spirit puts the law on us in us so it's not something that's outside in it's something that's inside out and you know that if you truly been born again before you were say then you grew up in a Christian home I could tell you what I did I was looking through this Bible to try to find loopholes to my disobedience well the Bible doesn't didn't say that so why not then talk about so that is not a person as a regenerate heart but a person has been born again looks for the things looks for the standards and joyfully embraces every command why because of you know because the Holy Spirit in you who did something to you when you gave up and fell upon Christ and what about the food laws and the ceremonial laws well that's an important question but I think it's also important to notice that the Ten Commandments how many of them are seen in the New Testament as commands in different ways 9 you're right which one is not in there the Sabbath if you pay attention in the New Testament you will see that all these commands that we just read resurfaced in the New Testament in different ways through the letters and the epistles and Jesus teachings except one the Sabbath and there are other branches of Christianity that would disagree with that and there are some genuine Christians that keep the Sabbath there are I even know a family that keeps the feasts and they're believers but they do it in light of the prophetic imagery of Jesus Christ and so considering that what does the Bible have to say Colossians 2 tells us Paul addresses us with the Colossians and chapter 2 verse 16 look what he says it's so plain he says therefore let no one pass judgment on you and questions of food and drink there's the food or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath that's right there these are a shadow of the things to come but the substance belongs to Christ so Christ fulfills he is the fulfillment of those things all those things were yes for the Israelites an immediate application absolutely but there are also shadow and Christ was the substance he's not the shadow he's the fulfillment of it so the Sabbath we're gonna talk about this when we get to the Sabbath commandment but the Sabbath just for us to get it in the surface level the Sabbath is Jesus he's our rest we rest in Christ it's not about a day it's about a person and we are our soul is at ease because of grace because of what he's done and we can rest in him oh it's gonna be exciting when we come to the Sabbath and so what does Jesus say even for these food loss because there are even ministries that say no you have to keep the food laws now there are some practical health tips through the food laws I mean all those critters in the ocean that he tells not to eat if you look into those animals they're not very healthy for you they're like the vacuum of the ocean they eat up all the junk pork is not healthy for you and so there's some practical understanding there but it does not condemn us he says in Colossians if you want to keep those dietary laws you can do that listen do it but don't condemn your brother if he doesn't do it in fact Paul takes chapters to specific chapters to talk about how we're to do with this meat thing so if eating meat stuff makes your brother stumble don't eat meat do you see it's not as black and white as we think people want black and white the Bible doesn't give us black and white so you can keep those feasts and hey you want to keep the Sabbath the way the Jews err you can do that if all you want just don't think that you're doing as a means to attain salvation nor do you do it to look at somebody else and think you are more spiritual for keeping those things if it's a conviction for you keep that conviction don't flaunt it don't bring judgment stay in your own lane so we see some freedom there concerning these ceremonial and civil laws but the moral law here is extended into the New Testament and it is expressed in different ways look what Jesus is in mark 719 he's talking about this idea of how the Pharisee says what you know in your hands and how that the files are Jesus you've got it all twisted it's not what what comes into a man that defiles him it's what's in his heart already proud of his heart in Matthew 7:20 says all this filth and he names them in detail what comes out of the heart of man but look what it says here in Matthew 719 there's like a little annotation here says thus he declared all foods clean talks about how he declared all foods clean that's an important verse because that's Jesus so we see how this relates to us in the New Testament so let me just let me just say this as we go into the first commandment in summary we are to understand the Ten Commandments in light of the New Covenant okay we can't look at that separate from the New Testament teachings they are not a means of justification but a delightful standard elevated under grace Jesus enhances those things for the spirit and dwelt believers to pursue in his life so if somebody were to ask me are you under the law somebody were to ask me that or somebody were to ask you you can answer confidently no I'm not under the law because to be under the law means that I'm condemned for breaking the law and Jesus took my condemnation for me equally I am NOT under the law because I do not fulfill the law as a means to be justified because Jesus did that for me but because of his heart transformation because of this heart transplant through the gospel I delight in the law and I want to pursue the law the psalmist talks about how he loves the law he didn't have the New Testament he wasn't talking about Ephesians when he was saying that he was talking about all those commandments all those sacrificial commandments all those food laws he goes I love to keep thy law David I've said this before was a new covenant believe it an Old Testament covenant he understood it he delighted he saw it as a joy why because it was an opportunity for him to walk in the will character nature of God and it was an opportunity to walk in a way to please God not a means by receiving justification but to please him in a sense of walking in a - what he's called us to walk it in order to glorify his name nevertheless as we go into the first commandment these Commandments reveal once again the character of God they are moral guidelines for us to operate in our lives and they are standard in which we should uphold personally and to fulfill by the power of the Holy Spirit amen first commandment you shall have no other gods before me seems pretty straightforward now when he says you shall not have any gods before me what he's not saying is you can have other gods as long as they're not above means standard of priority he's not saying that don't read it that way you can translate this way you shall have no other gods before my face or you shall have no other gods besides me and what he's saying there is I am the only one that has access to be Lord and master of your life I'm the only one and I'm not willing to share that step that status now for us to unpack what this means what this commandment means for us practically I'm gonna read to you this the same book you'd have to turn there but you can write as a reference because the Bible interprets the Bible Exodus 23 23 what does it mean to have other gods before the Lord says when my angel goes before you and brings you to the EM writes into the hittites and the perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites and I blot them out look what he says in verse 24 you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them nor do as they do but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars and pieces so he's saying here when you go into the Promised Land I'm making this very clear I don't want any gods before my eyes I don't want any idolatry I don't want you to adopt any of the gods or the practices of these sites in fact I want you to bring them to fine powder to never be seen before my eyes ever again in other words he's saying what only I can be God of your life total exclusivity no options for anything else he's saying me and me alone and I want you to demonstrate that by crushing all those things that you see in the land of Canaan now we all read this commandment we say well sure absolutely God Jesus there's no other God I go to church to talk about him I go to church to sing about him there's no Idol there's no Astra pole that I bow down that's ridiculous there's no bail altar that I go to in sacrifice but no way I'm fulfilling that that's the standard that I'm pursuing and so I realized what a God is what a God can potentially be can any of you identify maybe give a simple definition of what a Idol is no just a specific now a definition we'll get to specifics in a moment that's a standard definition anything you place above God but what does it mean to place above go ahead no go ahead you said it something that your heart desires can we say more than God sure yes anything that your heart treasures or worships above God yes anything that has authority over you that's a great insight well we just read what it means to have another God in our lives in Exodus 23 24 what does he say here look you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them God is anything an object that we worship or devoted to anything an object a thought a person and occupation anything that we worship or devoted to more than God that's the definition that Exodus 23 24 gives us anything that we adore anything that we desire anything that we are thrilled by anything that we find more pleasure in other than God is an idol I do not care what it is because this is what the Bible says you're not to bow before it nor nor are you to serve it and the reason and this is the beauty of these command says we're gonna explore the reason why God instituted them the reason why God gave this command is in the second commandment in the last part or the middle part revealing who he is he says something very similar in a second command a you don't make a carb image and he tells us the reason why near the end for I the Lord your God am a jealous god I'm jealous now there are two types of jealousy there's a jealousy that comes from insecurity and that's an unhealthy jealousy and we'll get into that when we come to the second commandment but there's a righteous jealousy and the best example to give of a righteous jealousy is a man and his wife who's ferociously jealous for her and he has every right and vice-versa to feel those emotions when he sees or she sees their spouse going into a different direction other than the Covenant that they have established between one another that's totally justifiable that burning sense of she's mine is totally right that burning sensation of he's mine is totally acceptable why cuz God feels it towards his bride because it's right its righteous it's according to his character and his standard it's not coveting it's not envy it's something that is fueled by a covenant that was established between two people and he's saying here I'm a jealous God so I don't want you for anybody else I'm not sharing you I'm not gonna let you find your pleasure in another person or thing because we made a covenant that I am for you and you are for me so the question the porn question is how do I identify an idol in my life that's a very important question and I think it just comes back to what we've been saying where do you find all your pleasure what is the theme of your thinking what causes you to add or what gives you a sense of purpose because if it's anything except God it's an idol now God says I've given you things to enjoy he says that first Timothy 6 you are to enjoy things in life you are to glorify God even in your eating you can enjoy a good meal you can enjoy time with your family you can enjoy the job in the occupation that God has given you because he's giving you those skills but you were never allowed to enjoy those things more than God himself God wants to source God wants to be the object and even all those things that we do we should do in light of our relationship with God and glorify Him and worship Him because of those things and an idol can be anything you can put that up please oh you think it's just about a statue now if you see these things let me just be straight if you see these things and any of them offend you it's probably because it's your God and as you look at these things let me just encourage you the best thing that you and I can do concerning how we are to live this commandment out faithfully is to look at all these things and to see how Jesus feels about them in light of the Scriptures do you understand what I'm saying were you saying I don't see an iPhone in the Book of Colossians I don't see an iPhone in the book of Ephesians I do how redeem the time redeem the time paraphrase Ephesians 5:15 don't waste your time don't you know that days are evil don't just squander your time don't just give it up hours on end there's something to fulfill you have a purpose don't just give yourself over to devices and let them be little vacuums and your life that sucked everything out of you that God's put in you sports we say oh we don't worship idols we don't worship things no we just packed stadiums and people paint their faces and they go crazy and people fight and people lose money over people that don't even know them oh it's gonna get very quiet in a few moments here marriage beautiful instituted by God but too many people have elevated this above him and their identity is in their spouse and their Idol is the thrill of the of the relationship in every aspect of the way but let me tell you something your husband will make a terrible god your wife will make a terrible god they will fail you they will not fulfill what your soul is craving for do they have a place in your life yes but not above God ministry that's a pulpit by the way ministry there are people that preach the word and love to preach more than the one they preach about they love the sound of their own voice they love people praising the fact that they have all this wealth of knowledge and all this influence that can stir their hearts they seek that more than him they find the thrill and giving to the poor more than breaking that alabaster flask as we learned about and loving him and adoring him that's not makeup by the way that's about you it's about idolizing yourself and you can come to a place in which how do you know if you idolize yourself you think about you all the time how do I look what are people saying about me is this a no what is that purrs I heard somebody whispered something were they talking about me and what are people gonna say you're your own Idol your eyes are inward they're not outward you're not worried about what people think about God in you or how you represent God that's totally awesome that's fine that's holy it's about you it's about your image it's about how you look so many people invest in this body and the Bible says it very clear in 1st Timothy 4:8 that bodily exercise is of some value but godliness is a value in every way there's this I'm all for health and fitness and dieting and all that that stuff is important and good but don't come to the place where it becomes your God do I have to talk about Instagram family you're saying hold on family I love my children I love my wife I love my husband I love my parents I'll give you letters and read if you love them more than Jesus you're not worthy to be his disciple these we're not even in the Old Testament I'm leaning more in the New Testament and Jesus is giving a way higher standard than the Old Covenant you love your family more than me if you cannot submit to the gospel because of your family that's your idol grades money possessions all those things listen now let's step back are those things bad no but we can take once again the blessings of God and turn them into idols we've to be very careful so what do we do we ask the Lord to take all these things and to enjoy all these things in light of him being the ultimate pleasure in our lives that's what we do that he's the fountain and everything else flows out of that as an extension of who he is and his person it's properly appropriating and placing these things in our lives him being the supreme him being the source him being everything to us how do I know you've heard me say there's so many times I'll say it again if Jesus were to ask you to get rid of any of those things would you be able to do it if not it's an idol he's saying well this is a little this standard is pretty high I don't know if I can walk in that standard you know a group of people said that to Jesus in John chapter 6 he says eat my flesh and drink my blood and they said those very exact words they says how can we keep that this is too much for us and they walked away and Jesus led them why because he's a jealous God hear me she wants you and all of you now let's give an illustration to this young ladies if a young man approached you and you got to know each other and you began to be fond of one another and you want to fulfill that covenant of marriage and that day where he proposes to you oh that glorious day he gets on one knee he looks at you in the eyes and he begins to express how much she wants to be devoted to you and how much he wants to spend this life and how much he wants to glorify God and marriage and all these things and you're ready you're just bursting from the seams you're ready to say yes tears are streaming down there's the picture guy right there taking it all being recorded and all for a sudden the young man Berta splits out these words listen in light of all of that sweetie I'm gonna ask you for one thing out of the 365 days in which we are together in holy union I just want one day just one day to be with somebody else just one day 24 hours that's it that's all I'm asking for and you look and you say are you out of your mind okay okay oh not one day what not one day one hour there's a girl that I used to know and I haven't talked to her in a long time but I want to meet with her for one hour just one hour she's gonna come pick me up and all I want is one hour with her and then you have me for every other hour of the year I'm yours would that sound appealing to you you would be out of your mind to say yes to somebody like that I don't care what he says I don't care what he promises that is absolutely ridiculous now how many of us do that with the Lord where he demands total exclusivity he wants all of us and he wants all these things guess what to be enjoyed with him but you and I instead we take one of those things and we make it a side partner once again don't hear me wrong we are to enjoy these things but we are to never say this is something that I desire more than him and he is jealous you're saying are you really he's jealous he's jealous when you get more time to the thing than to him he's jealous when your heart finds more thrill and enjoyment and pleasure in your job than in his presence the Prophet Jeremiah system I'm closing with these verses relating to all of this Jeremiah 2:11 a13 this is fantastic it summarizes this perfectly Jeremiah to 11 to 13 this is when the nation of Israel did not fulfill the first commandment and look what the Lord says as a nation changed its gods even though they are no gods but my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit stop there so he says they went after these different gods and they're not even gods they're man-made things isn't it amazing that people worship man-made things things that were built in a factory things that were produced by human minds and they have elevated those things more than the one who created all those things and he says they have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit in other words for that word does not satisfy the inner man says that's what they've done and look what he does in verse 12 he does something I think is absolutely amazing he says be a pulp now he calls the heavens as a witness he says be appalled oh heavens at this be shocked be utterly desolate declares the Lord why is my people have committed two evils so he's saying all of heaven I want all the angelic hosts I want every celestial being to check this out my people have exchanged their glory for something that does not profit and God identifies it as evil why look how he paints this picture they have forsaken me me the fountain of living waters and hewed out cisterns for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water that is a commentary on the first commandment broken the very startling picture he says heavens look at this look at how these people are finding more pleasure in that in their family in their job in their clothes in their bank account in their sports team in their iPhone look at look they exchanged this what I can give for that which does not profit and it is like somebody who is so thirsty and there's a fountain of the purest cleanest most fulfilling water that never ceases to flow I mean you can be thirsty every day of your life in this fountain will satisfy you and this is what they're doing they're digging with their hands on the side of the road to try to find water at the end of that pit that's what it looks like to God when we have iOS in our lives and God is appalled and it goes you have no idea what you're missing out on so we have to look at our own hearts and these Ten Commandments will do just that is there anything in my life that I am more thrilled by more pleased by that takes occupation of my mind the most other than God do I do I do things outside of the goodness of God and do I do things in spite of the fact that he gave me these things and these things should cost me even my stake should cause me to worship God because he made it so flavorful and he gave me the money to provide for and he gave me the family to enjoy it with do I do things outside of that do I worship the created thing more than the Creator and so he says enjoy it enjoy this life happily enjoy these things but not more than me not never more than me if anything it should cause you to love me more because these are extensions of my grace and mercy to you let's pray together so how are we to understand the first commandment we are to understand it as a as God speaking as a ferociously jealous bridegroom over his bride that I have set the standard the same way a man or a woman has a standard concerning marriage that I am yours in your mind we do not share each other that one make this covenant we are making that statement and before we pray I think this is important to understand in light of the New Testament in Colossians 3:5 look what Paul says he says put to death therefore what is earthly in you sexual immorality impurity passion evil desire and look at this and covetousness which is idolatry so how does Paul define idolatry covetousness what does it mean to covet it means to have a strong desire for something or someone that does not belong to you so this is one strong element of idolatry which is very very interesting because the last commandment is not to covet and so we have a full circle the first one is not to have any God before me not to have idols and based on this text an idol is anything that you and I can covet or we do covet so when I look at something that somebody has in my my heart so wanted that it consumes my mind and my time that's an idol if I do the same with another person's spouse that's an idol anything that we have a strong desire for that does not belong to us Paul says that's an idol because the very thing that is occupying your thinking and making your heart feel that way I want me to do that to you I want me to be the passion of your heart I want you to pursue me not that I'm supposed to have that occupation in your mind I'm supposed to make your heart feel that way and so when you covet something when you spend all that energy and you meditate upon those things that aren't supposed to be yours in the first place that's the pursuit that I'm anticipating from you for me so he says don't crave those things crave me don't run after those things run after me don't get caught up in those things get caught up in me that is the essence of the first so it's not even things that we have placed in our lives that take the place of God it's even the things that we have a craving for that we might not even have you're saying well that's just getting crazy well let's take it to the marriage example again let's say that you have that with somebody but you know that that persons are the opposite person the spouse of yours in their heart they want somebody else or they find pleasure in something other than you we can we can use this example all day long God says not only do I want to see it yes obviously physically I want every idol in the land of your cane and to be crushed but I want your heart the attitude of your heart the posture of this heart to be mine and we should none of us should step back and say well that's just a little bit too much he loves us and he wants to make covenant and relationship experience in its fullness of joy must demand total commitment to one another father we thank you for tonight thank you for showing us how this law relates to us we thank you that Jesus fulfills a law that we are no longer under the law but we thank you that you have given us a heart transplant for us to desire to walk in these things and Lord we want to be a people that have no other gods before you that you would receive the fullness of who we are and Lord help us understand the balance let us never fall into the ditch of legalism as we drift away from lawlessness help us stay in that balance road that we are to enjoy things in life but not more than you we are to walk in the things of this life with our families and our friends and and do certain things that our hearts desire but never are they to replace the pleasure that we find in the king and soullow we pray that if there are any idols in our hearts even tonight that you would show us and that we would do what the nation of Israel was to do and that's put it in right place to crush it so lord if money occupies our thinking if finances occupy our thoughts if anything anything takes that place of you would you with this glorious truth give us the power of the Holy Spirit to even love you Russ to fulfill the greatest commandment is impossible apart from the Holy Spirit pouring out his love in our hearts and so Lord we need you to love you help us God see the futility and the vanity and the silliness of these things when there is an eternal God that wants to commune with us bring us to the right place Lord and as we explore these other Commandments may we yes since this understanding of exhaustion for those who are not in Christ and are living according to this to try to get salvation and may it bring people to the foot of the cross but Lord may we also for those who are born again see these things as a way of enhancing our experience of our relationship with you may we be motivated rightly by these words in the name of Jesus we pray

Channel: UE Church - Chicago

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Keywords: Exodus, 20, Bible, Study, The, First, Commandment, Exodus 20, Bible Study, The First Commandment, Exodus 20 Bible Study The First Commandment, You shall have no, other gods before me, You shall have no other gods before me, daniel batarseh, Uec, ue church, united evangelical church, agape young adults services, ue church agape, bible, christians, sermon, preaching, teaching, jesus, god, holy spirit, christ, christianity, old tastement, torah

Id: 7vqI2dwLYrg

Length: 74min 21sec (4461 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 25 2018