Let’s pray. Lord we bless Your name. We
honor Your name. It is the name that is above all names. And we come today to learn more
about You and about Your Word and how to have a Christian world view. So we ask Your blessing
on our time of Bible study. Speak to us we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen. We are going to be looking into the book of
Exodus chapter 20. And the title of my message is, “How to Love God.” It is Valentines Day. How many guys just figured
that out just as I said that? Oh no. Here is a couple dressed in red. They got the memo.
You can always pick people dressed in red can’t you? A lot of them. A lot of you out
there. Well happy Valentines Day. And of course what is Valentines Day about? It is about
guilt. That’s right. Guilt. You are supposed to buy flowers/chocolate. Some gift for your
loved one. And then go out to a restaurant along with 5 million other people all trying
to get reservations in the same restaurant and so forth. But no. Seriously though. Valentines Day is
a day dedicated to love. But what is love? Well if you listen to the songs that are played
on the radio over the years you have some interesting definitions. It is kind of frightening
to think that some people might come up with their view of love from movies and songs on
the radio. Well what do we know about love from songs
for instance? Well for starters we know that, “What the world needs now is love sweet
love.” So we will start there. But what is love? Well of course we know, “Love is
a many splendored thing.” Right. Another sings love is the answer. Led Zeppelin reminded
us that “We need a whole lot of love.” And then Phil Collins reminds us
“You can’t hurry love.” But why? Another says, “Well that’s the way that love goes.” All right. Let’s put together what we have
already learned about love. It is the answer. It is many splendored. We need a whole lot
of it. You can’t hurry it because that is the way it goes. But someone had to go and rain on our love
parade by recording a song that said, “I said I love you but I lied.” Causing the
Black Eyed Peas to wonder in their song “Where is the love?” Another warns “Too much
love will kill you.” Maybe that is why Dionne Warwick sang “I will never love this way
again” And Tina Turner reminded us “What’s love got to do with it.” And that is probably
why the J. Geils Band recorded the song called “Love Stinks.” But then you remember that
guy Meatloaf. He recorded a song and said he “would do anything for love.” Remember
that 70s band called Bread. How many of you remember Bread? Oh wow. Ok. They had a song
out as well called “Lost without your love.” I think Meatloaf, the Black Eyed Peas, and
Bread ought to go on tour. Just makes me hungry thinking about it. And they could bring along
that one hit wonder band. They were called the 1910 Fruitgum Company. Is that not a stupid
name for a band? But you know their song. I guarantee it. “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, I
have got love in my tummy.” Oh my. I guess the Beatles recorded the definitive
song on love. All you need is love. And then they broke up and sued each other. It was
a beautiful thing really. Various philosophers have opined on love as
well. Plato said, “Love: It is a grave mental disease.” He had probably been listening
to the J. Geils Band song Love Stinks a little bit too much. Oliver Wendell Holmes was more
optimistic about love when he said to us, “Love is the master key that opens the gates
of happiness.” Another said, “Love makes your soul fall out of its hiding place.”
Even another says, “Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of
human existence.” Well what is love? The Bible says, clearly,
God is love. And we don’t have a great example of love than what we have in God showing His
love for us. Probably the definitive statement on love is John 3:16. “For God so loved
the world He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life.” And probably the greatest definition of love is 1 Corinthians
13. From a modern translation it says, “Love never gives up. Love cares more for others
than for itself. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love isn’t always me
first. Love doesn’t keep score of the sins of others. Love puts up with anything. It
trusts God always. It always looks for the best. It never looks back. Love keeps on going
to the end.” So as I already said we have this amazing
example of love where God loved us. So how should we respond? We ought to love Him back.
In fact the Bible says, “We love Him because He first loved us.” Now we can talk all day about love and how
much we love God. We can sing about our love for God. We can speak about our love for God.
But probably the best way to show our love for the Lord is in what we do. Jesus said
to us in John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” So we are in a new series now that we are
calling World View. How to think and live biblically. And we are talking about the Ten
Commandments to start because it gives us a set of absolutes to live by. To form our
opinions by so we can look at the world and life and everything through a biblical lens.
And you remember that Jesus really summed up the Ten Commandments when He said, “You
should love the Lord with all of your heart, your soul, and your mind, and you should love
your neighbor as yourself.” And if we work on that we will really get to the heart of
the Ten Commandments. Because the commandments are broken into two sections. Four and six.
The first four have to do with our relationship with God. The final six have to do with our
relationship with others. So if I am loving the Lord with all of my heart, soul, and mind
I will not have other gods before Him. I won’t bow before graven images. I wont’ take His
name in vain. If I am loving my neighbor as I ought to love myself I won’t lie to my
neighbor or steal from them or covet what belongs to them and I certainly would not
kill them. The Ten Commandments. God gives us absolute truth in them. We have looked at the first one. Let’s look
at the rest. Commandment number one. Exodus 20:2–3. “‘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.” That is the first commandment. What does it mean? As we saw this god with
a small g could be a lot of things. Any person, any pursuit, any passion that takes the place
of God in our life could potentially be an idol. Someone or something that if you were
to lose it would leave you desolate. That is the place for God and God alone in your
heart. The Lord wants to be number one in your life. He wants your faithfulness. He
wants us to be loyal to Him. Don’t have any other gods before Him. How sad it is when a husband leaves his wife
or a wife leaves her husband. How tragic it is when there is unfaithfulness in the marriage.
But let me ask you this. Wives how would you feel if your husband left you for another
and you found out it wasn’t another woman. Well it was kind of a woman. Actually what
it was was a mannequin. You know what a mannequin is. They dress them in the stores. Your husband
left you for a mannequin. What? You demand an explanation. “Well I saw her down at
the department store and she is very pretty. She looks good at night and in the morning.
She never nags me. She is always smiling. She goes with me anywhere I want to go, anytime
I want to go there. She goes to the restaurant that I choose. She never complains. I am in
love with a mannequin.” You would think, “My husband has flipped his lid.” Is it any stranger when we leave the true
God for a false god? And especially a graven image. I actually read an article in the paper the
other day about a woman who was busted for driving in a carpool lane with a mannequin.
And the officer pulled her over and as it turns out she had dressed this mannequin up
with a brunette wig, makeup. She had very stylish clothing and so forth. And so the
officer knowing what was going on said, “Ma’am I am going to need to see your license and
registration. And I want to see her I.D. as well.” The woman was not amused the article
said and she said to the officer she saw no problem with her dummy since everyone else
is doing it. Really? Are a lot of people driving around with dummies? Well maybe they are.
I guess it comes down to your definition of a dummy. But I will tell you one thing. There are a
lot of people worshiping dummies if you will. Or at least a dumbed down version of God.
Listen. The first commandment has to do with worshipping the right God. We must reject
every false god in order to worship the true God who is the only God. But the second commandment has to do with
worshipping the right God in the right way. We must worship Him the way He wants us to
worship Him. Not with a man-made idol. Because how we worship matters as much as whom we
worship. The first commandment, have no other gods before Him has to do with the existence
of other gods. The second commandment, making a graven image and worshipping or bowing before
it forbids the making of other gods. It is possible to break the first commandment and
not be completely aware of it. But one would be very aware of the fact that they are breaking
the second. Now let’s explain what this means and doesn’t
mean. Is it wrong to have a cross say on your wall? Or is it wrong to have a painting or
a drawing of Jesus? You know of course that we don’t know what Jesus looked like. I
guarantee He didn’t have long blonde hair parted down the middle like some hippie dude
or something. Ok. As He is often portrayed. We don’t know what Christ looked like. The
Bible doesn’t give us a description of Him, which is noteworthy. But is it wrong to even
have an artistic rendering of Christ? What about if we have a little statue of an angel?
Or what about if we wear a cross around our neck or something else like that? Is that
having a graven image? Well the answer to that is no it is not. God
is not against art. He is not against expression. Especially as reflect the beauty of His creation.
God gave us this creative ability. And even in the ark of the covenant we know that there
were cherubim that were sculpted to preside over it. And also we know that in the temple
itself there would be the lions and the bulls and the cherubim also carved out. So the Bible
is not criticizing the making of figures or objects. It is criticizing it when we make
those objects and use them as an aid to worship. When we use them as an aid to worship. The Bible says, Jesus speaking actually, “God
is a spirit and those that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” It
is good to worship God in spirit you see. There is a place for emotion in worship too. You know we will watch a Super Bowl game.
That was a great Super Bowl by the way. Right to the very end. Suspenseful. Surprising.
A lot of excited people. And understandably so. And we watch that and that all seems normal
to us. People screaming. Yelling. Painting their faces. Wearing the team colors. You
know running around in circles. “Yeah. There is a fan for you.” Then someone comes to
church and they lift one hand to the Lord and you look at them and say, “Fanatic.
That is so out of place.” Is it? Is there a place for emotion in worship? Yes there
is. We need to worship God in spirit. But Jesus said we must also worship Him in
truth. There is a right way to worship the right God. And God doesn’t like it when
we feel we need images or icons or statues to help us in our worship. Here is another thing to consider. God is
not only against material images that misrepresent Him. He is also against false mental images.
False mental images. You say, “I don’t understand.” It is when we say things like,
“Well my god is like.” Fill in the blank there. “I like to think of god as a.”
Insert answer here. “I like to think of god as a loving father.” “I like to think
of god as a nurturing mother.” “I like to think of god as a flower.” “I like
to think of god as whatever.” You know, “My god” we will say. “My god well he
is like scotch tape. You can’t see him but you know he is there.” “My god he is like
Coca Cola. He is the real thing.” “My god.” Shut up. Your god is a figment of
your imagination. Let me take it a step further. “I believe
in a god of love not a god of judgment.” “I believe in a god of forgiveness not a
god who would send a person to hell” for instance. Ok. Here is the problem. You are
inventing your own god. And when you speak that way not only is it unbiblical but you
are having another god before Him. I cannot edit God. The objective is not to make God
into my image. It is to make me into His. And so this is exactly what this commandment
is dealing with. You shall have no other god before Him. Or a graven image. Look at verse 4 and 5 of
Exodus 20. “‘Don’t make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God,
am a jealous God.’” Now here is the why. Why can’t I have another
god before Him? Why can’t I have a graven image? Answer. Because our God is a jealous
God. Now I have to warn you that Oprah Winfrey
does not like that. She has spoken out against it. She said, and I quote, “I was raised
a Baptist and we were way too hung up on traditional ways. I was sitting in church and I heard,
‘God is a jealous God’ and I asked why.” Oprah said, “The idea of a jealous God is
absurd.” She says, “Come on. Let’s get over it.” She believes a jealous God is
an insecure God. She says, “God is not like that at all.” She says, “I believe in
the force. I call it god.” She also says, “If you believe in a rhythm of nature and
in love then you believe in god.” Thank you Oprah. But what God is that? It is not the God of
the Bible. If you like it or not God says He is a jealous God. But what does that mean? You know we equate
jealousy with pettiness, selfishness, and we see it as a vice not a virtue. But that
is not what God means when He says He is a jealous God. Maybe if we changed the spelling
it would help us in our understanding of it. Let’s drop the j and put in a z. Our God
is a zealous God. Let me explain. Our God is zealous in His
love for you and He wants you to be zealous in His love for Him. God loves you and wants
an exclusive relationship with you. Does that make sense? Doesn’t a wife want her husband to be faithful
to her? Doesn’t a husband want his wife to be loyal to him as well? Doesn’t a parent
look out for their child and care about their welfare? Of course they do. If you saw your
child running into the street and a car approaching and you ran as fast as you could get to your
child in even endangering your life would that seem unusual Of course not. That is a
jealous parent. A parent that loves their child. Or a jealous husband. Or a jealous
wife. This is what God is saying. He says, “I
want your complete love. I don’t want you to bow down before other gods.” Now how did this happen? Well there is a vivid
illustration of this in the book of Exodus. Here is Moses up on Mt. Sinai receiving the
commandments of the Lord. Meanwhile back at the camp Aaron was in charge. Aaron was not
strong like Moses. Not a great leader like Moses. So the people came to him and said,
“Hey where is this Moses that led us out of Egypt. You know we don’t know where He
has gone to. We don’t know if he is ever going to come back to us again. What are we
supposed to do?” And Aaron said, “I will tell you what. All of you bring your gold,
bring your earrings, your bracelets, everything. Bring it to me.” And so all of the men and
all of the women and children brought their gold. Aaron melted it down and made a golden
calf. An image of a cow basically. Put it up in front of them and said, “This is the
god that led you out of Egypt.” And the people are bowing before the golden calf. But then this one little twist is thrown into
the story. Right before they did it Aaron said, “Tomorrow will be a feast or a festival
unto the Lord. So we will worship the Lord through the golden calf. Meanwhile up on Mt. Sinai the Lord said, “You
need to get back down to the camp again. These people are doing the very thing you told them
not to do.” So Moses is descending from the mountain and Joshua is ahead of him. He
hears noise in the camp. He says, “Moses there is a war going on down there.” “No
son. There is a big party going on down there.” He comes down and what does Moses see but
the Israelites dancing before a golden calf. Moses demands an explanation from Aaron. And
Aaron offers probably the lamest excuse ever put forth in human history. Maybe second only
to Adam in the garden when he said, “It is the woman You gave me.” Aaron says, “Look
I know this looks bad. Ok .It doesn’t look good. It looks like we are worshipping a false
god. I know. But here is what happened. We took this gold. We melted it. We threw it
into the fire. And this golden calf came out. So what else could we do but strip our clothes
and worship.” Moses was so ticked off. He throws the commandments
down. They are broken. Then he takes this golden calf. He has it ground to powder and
makes them eat the powder. I mean this thing was a mess. Here is the thing. How did they rationalize
their behavior? They said, “Oh it is for the Lord. Oh tomorrow is a festival to the
Lord.” Here is the interesting thing. Sometimes we will do all kinds of ungodly things but
we already remember to say grace before a meal. We will go out and do this and do that.
“Oh let’s pray for the food though.” Oh you know maybe a few our fathers and hail
Mary’s will fix this.” Oh maybe you should change your behavior. Maybe you should actually
do what God has told you to do. They were saying this golden calf was a representation
of the Lord. Call it what you like. It was flat out idolatry. A person who really knows
God and who has experienced a new birth and is living in fellowship with Him should not
need an image or representation to help Him pray. Something is not right if you feel you
need to do that. So you have this carving of Jesus or this painting of the Lord or whatever
it is and you say, “Now I would like to get down on my knees in front of this statue.
It looks like I am bowing before a statue but I am really not. I am praying to the god
it represents. The Lord knows my heart.” That is the problem. God says, “I don’t
like stuff like that.” “Well I am not really worshipping the statue. I am just bowing
in front of it and kissing the foot of the statue but I am really worshipping god.”
You ever heard the expression, “Looks like a duck. Walks like a duck. Quacks like a duck.”
Yeah. That is what it is. God says, “I don’t want you to do that.” Why is this a problem? Because it gives us
a false concept of what God is really like. If the image is false then the thought of
God is false and it will produce a character that is false. Psalm 115:6 speaking of idols says, “They
have ears, but they can’t hear. They have noses they have, but they do not smell. Those
who make them become like them.” A man becomes like the thing that he worships. And if you
put something in the place of God you will eventually become like that thing. What is the end game here? What is our goal?
It is to become like Jesus. Commandment number one. No other gods before
Him. Commandment number two. No graven images. Commandment number three. Verse 7 of Exodus
20. “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.’” This is done more often
than you may think. One of the most obvious ways is through profanity.
We have all heard it. When people use the name of Jesus to punctuate a point. Jesus
Christ they will say. When I hear someone say that I mean more than any other word than
people say I notice that. I have even said to people who have said it, “Be careful.
He might answer you some time.” And then they will add this. Jesus H Christ. What is
with the H? Where did that come from? You know you never hear people do that with other
religious leaders or gurus or whatever you want to call them. You don’t hear someone
who is upset go, “Oh man Buddha.” Or they are nailing something. They hit their thumb.
“Ah Hare Krishna.” Or better yet. “Hare H Krishna.” Why do they use the name Jesus
Christ? Even people who are avowed atheists will say, “Jesus Christ.” Sometimes people
who are atheists talk more about Jesus than Christians do. Not in the right way. But they
say His name more. All the time it is Jesus that. Christ that. What is with that? I believe that even the atheists in their
heart of hearts knows there is power in that holy name. And that is why they do it. Oh
sure they are taking it in vain. They are violating the third commandment. But in a
way they are acknowledging the existence of God. I mean why invoke the name of a God you
don’t believe in. Why say the name of a person you don’t even think ever existed?
Why do you say His name? Because you know there is power in that name. As we are reminded
in Philippians 2, “God has exalted Him to the highest place and given Him the name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow, in heaven, and
on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Jesus. The name. It has power. If you don’t believe
just say it somewhere. Anywhere. Just say the name. Jesus. You know you can talk about anything you want.
Talk about politics. Talk about spirituality. Talk religion. Even talk Christianity if you
want to. But when you say, “Well you know Jesus Christ.” They are kind of like, “What?
Did he actually just say the name Jesus Christ as in He is alive and real and you are talking
about Jesus What kind of a crazy person are you?” People pay attention. God wants us as His followers to never take
His name in vain but instead to honor it. Psalm 113:2 says, “Blessed the name of the
Lord forever and ever.” He wants us to invoke that holy name in our
hour of need as well. Proverbs 18:10 says, “The name of the lord is a strong tower.
The righteous run to it and are safe.” Job knew the power of that name when tragedy
hit. Job 1:21 says, “Job said, ‘Naked came I from my mother’s womb. I will be
stripped of everything when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had and the Lord has
taken it away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.’” Elijah on Mt. Carmel knew the power of the
name of the Lord as he faced off with the prophets of Baal. They called on their god
and he said, “And I will call on the name of my God and let the God who is God answer
by fire.” Deuteronomy 32:3 days, “We are to proclaim
the name of the Lord.” There is power in that name. God pays attention when we speak
that name. Imagine if someone used your name for profanity.
“Oh Greg Laurie.” What? “Yeah I use your name to cuss now.” Great. You wouldn’t
like that now would you? Have you ever noticed when someone speaks
your name you hear it? You know Greg Laurie. You know your name. The Lord knows His name. He hears when we
speak it. Let’s not take it in vain. His name is holy. How do we take the Lord’s name in vain?
One way is by swearing to God. When people say things, “I swear to God this is true.
I swear it is true.” Why do people say that? They are probably liars a lot. That’s why.
They need to take the oath. “Oh listen man. I know you know I have said things before
but I swear. I swear on my.” Stop with that. If you tell the truth you don’t have to
swear by anything. Remember that old expression, “Your word
is your bond.” Just tell the truth. This is true. This is not true. You can take my
word for it or you can reject it. But Jesus said in Matthew 5:33, “You have
heard the law of Moses. Don’t break your vows. Carry out the vows you have made. But
I say to you don’t make any vows. Just a simple
yes I will’ or ‘no I won’t will do just fine.’ Your word is enough. To strengthen
your promise with a vow shows that something is wrong. If you say you are going to do something
do it. If you are not going to do it don’t say that you will do it.” If you are hired
to do a job do it. Christians should be the hardest workers at what they do. The most
diligent. Not the least. Never using their faith as an excuse for laziness. Ephesians 6:7 says, “Work with enthusiasm
as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” How else do we take His name in vain? When
we say things like, “Oh my god.” “Oh god” people will say. You know it is one
thing if you are in trouble. You are in crisis. “Oh God.” Perfect. But when you see a
cool car. “Oh my god.” No. No. No. Don’t say, “Oh my god.” You are calling on the
Lord. “Yes. Well look at that car Lord. Just wanted to say what do you think.” “Yeah
I was kind of hoping you would call on Me when you really needed me.” Or you text
omg for “oh my god.” Even my granddaughter busted me on this. I
don’t say, “Oh my god.” but I do occasionally say, “Oh my gosh.” And I said it the other
day. “Oh my gosh.” Three-year-old Stella said, “You are not supposed to say that.”
“Sorry. Go play with your dolls.” Hate to be rebuked by a three-year-old. Another way the Lord’s name is used in vain
is when we use it for personal gain. You know you have all seen this happen. Maybe you are
looking at something to buy. Someone is talking to you. A sales person. I have been with people.
They are cussing. Cussing. Cussing. Cussing. And then they will say, “By the way what
do you do for a living Greg? Is that your name? Greg?” “Yeah. It’s Greg.” “What
do you do for a living?” “I am a pastor.” “Oh praise the Lord bro. Man.” “Wow.
Were you just converted at that moment?” “Hallelujah. Glory to God. Man the Lord
has been blessing.” Stop. Don’t do that. I liked you better the old heathen cussing
way. You were being true to yourself there. Now you are just a liar and I am not going
to believe anything you see. “Well pardon my French reverend.” Is that what that was?
French. I wasn’t sure. Interesting words. Another way the Lord’s name is taken in
vain is when it is used for selling things. You know we have a bookstore here. I don’t
know if you are aware of that. An outstanding bookstore if I don’t say so myself. It is
won Christian bookstore of the year a number of times. Christian church bookstore of the
year. And we were very intentional when we put this store together. We decided we didn’t
want to sell junk. We decided we wanted to offer quality spiritual items to help people.
You will go into some Christian bookstores today there is a lot of gift items. Very few
books in many so-called bookstores today. But if you go into our store you will find
a lot of good books that we have approved or are close enough to our theology where
we feel they will be a blessing to you. Outstanding Christian music. Things for your children
as well. But you know we have been very intentional on how we put this bookstore together. There
is a place for these wonderful products and resources that can be a blessing to each of
us. But then there is a whole other group of people
that market stuff just because they think people will buy it and they will put the name
of Jesus on practically anything because someone will want to buy the “Christian” version
instead of the secular one. For instance these are actual products. I am not making any of
these up. There is a Christian football popcorn bowl complete with Philippians 4:3 emblazoned
in the side. I don’t want a secular bowl. I want a Christian popcorn bowl. Then there
is a walk the walk Christian flip flops with Scripture on them. Don’t give me those secular
flip flops. I want Christian footwear. Then there is the end times survivalist Bible cover
in olive green with a GPS unit enclosed. How about this? The Christian LED flashlight with
walk in the light written on the side. Here is another one. I am not making any of these
up. The Jesus reigns golf umbrella. Get it. You know. Reigns umbrella. I got a Christian
umbrella. This ought to be a witness. Jesus reigns. You also can get Christian birdfeeders.
You know you want to evangelize the humming birds right. They are moving around. Read
the Scripture. Convert the humming birds. Christian mud flaps. Wallpaper. Candy bars.
Mouse pads. I would never want to drive around with heathen mud flaps. Thank God I can find
Christian. “Now Greg it sounds like you are mocking.”
I am mocking. I am mocking because I think honestly some of this, I am not going to say
what or who, God knows but it seems to me that when we use the Lord’s name that way
we are misusing it. Here is something to consider. The phrase
in vain means to use it in an empty, idle, insincere, or frivolous way. Again the phrase
in vain as in taking the Lord’s name in vain means to say it in a way that is empty,
idle, insincere, or frivolous. We have all done it. I have done it. Here is a way we will do it. We will say,
“Praise the Lord” and not mean it. “Praise the Lord.” I have heard some people between
every sentence it is praise the Lord. “Praise the Lord I am going to go down and get a burger.
Praise the Lord and then I am going to go over here. Praise the Lord.” What do you
keep saying that for? “I don’t know. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.”
Do you mean that every time you say it? I mean if you do that’s fantastic. Or someone will say something. “I will pray
for you man. I will pray for you bro.” Nice. Just make sure you do it. How about God bless you? We throw that around.
God bless you. God bless you. God bless. God bless. God bless you. Sometimes we say it
to get rid of people. You know they are talking. “Ok. Great. God bless you.” In other words,
“Can you go now? I don’t want to just say go so I will say God bless you.” Conversation
over. I am not saying don’t say God bless you
or don’t say praise the Lord. I am saying when you say praise the Lord, when you say
God bless you, when you say Jesus mean it. It is the name above all names and the Lord
pays attention to His name. But perhaps the most awful and subtle form
in which this law is broken is through hypocrisy. The man or woman who says, “Lord, Lord,”
but does not keep His commandments. Jesus said, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’
and not do what I say?” See it is important. The hypocrisy of the
church is far worse than the profanity in the street. We see someone say the Lord’s
name. And by the way God’s last name is not damn. You know that. It comes as a revelation
to some. We will hear someone use that phrase. Oh it’s horrible. And it is. It is bad.
I hate it. But is it worse in the church when we say Jesus Jesus Jesus and openly live in
contradiction to what He says. I am not calling you to be perfect. I am not saying we are
not going to have moments of hypocrisy. I am not saying we are not going to fall short.
Because we all will. I am talking about a hypocrite. A hypocrite is an actor. That is
a literal definition of the word. It means a person who pretends to be something they
are not. They are playing a part. They ought to get an Oscar or an Emmy. But they are not
living as they should. This is more offensive to God than anything. Because Jesus said,
“Some will come in that day saying, ‘Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in Your name? Did
we not cast out demons in Your name? Did we not do all of these things in Your name?’
And I will say to you, ‘I never knew you you worker of iniquity.’” Commandment number three. Do not take the
Lord’s name in vain. Now finally in closing. Commandment number
four. This commandment has produced more confusion, misunderstanding, and hard feelings than probably
any other. What is it? Verse 8. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” The Sabbath
day. By the way. It is Saturday. Saturday always
has been and always will be Sabbath. When God was creating all things on the seventh
day He rested. He institutes this law in the Ten Commandments as a day of rest. “Remember
the Sabbath day. Keep it holy.” But here is the question. Are we still to
keep Sabbath the way it was originally set up for the Jewish people as believers living
in the new covenant or does the way we look at it change? I suggest that is the case.
Saturday still is Sabbath, but how we view it is another thing. For instance this is
the only commandment of the ten that is not repeated in the New Testament. Every other
commandment is repeated in the New Testament. Some are made even more stringent. For instance,
in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says in Matthew 5:21, “You have heard that it has been said
in the law of Moses do not murder and if you commit murder you are subject to judgment.
But I say to you if you are angry with someone without cause you are subject to judgment.”
Then again the Lord says, “You have heard that it was said in the Law of Moses you shall
not commit adultery. But I say to you if you look on a woman with lust in your heart you
have committed adultery.” So He actually took it to the next level. And that is exactly
what Jesus came to do. Not to do away with the law and prophets but to fulfill them. Here is the interesting twist. When Jesus
Himself, God in human form, walked this earth He was accused of breaking the Sabbath because
He healed a guy on the Sabbath. And He had to remember everyone, “Hey guys you have
got it all wrong with all of your extra restrictions and laws you have added to Sabbath you have
missed the point. Man was not made for the Sabbath,” Christ said, “Sabbath was made
for man.” It is a day of rest. It is not repeated in the New Testament. Jesus never
taught anyone to keep the Sabbath. He came to fulfill it. Also the apostles never taught anyone to keep
the Sabbath. In fact they began meeting on the first day of the week, Sunday, because
Jesus rose on Sunday. In the old covenant the Jews would gather in the temple or synagogue
and they would worship on Sabbath. But now in the new covenant because our Lord rose
on the first day of the week Sunday is a day set a part. Sunday does not become Sabbath.
Sabbath is Sabbath. Sunday is Sunday. But it is a day set apart to worship the Lord. And the Scripture even criticizes those who
make a big deal out of Sabbath when it comes to Christians. In Colossians 2:16–17 Paul
writes, “Don’t let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a
religious festival a new moon celebration or Sabbath.” Why. “Because these are a
shadow of things to come. The reality however is found in Christ.” These things are a
shadow you see. For instance we don’t sacrifice animals
anymore. Did you know that? We don’t do that. Why? Because Jesus is the Lamb of God
who fulfills those Old Testament types. So Sabbath in the same way is fulfilled in a
relationship with Christ where we enter into the rest of the finished work that Jesus did
on the cross. These other things are a shadow of things to come. You can’t hug your shadow. I have chased
my shadow with Stella. We will chase our shadow around. Jump on our shadow. But why hug a
shadow when you can hug the one the shadow comes from. These things are a shadow of the
Lord who has come to fulfill all of these things. And Hebrews 4:9–11 sort of pulls it together
when it says, “There is a special rest (or Sabbath rest literally) waiting for the people
of God. For those who enter into God’s rest will find rest from their labors, as God rested
after creating the world. Let us do our best to enter that rest.” Now I bring this up because some people will
say, “What day do you go to church on?” I go to church on Sunday?” “Oh you don’t
go on Sabbath.” “Well no.” “Oh you are breaking the fourth commandment on the
Sabbath day. That day is holy.” Well actually I worship the Lord on Monday and Tuesday and
Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday and Sunday. Every day is holy to the Lord.
Don’t let a person tell you you have to keep Sabbath day to be a true follower of
Jesus. It is a distortion of Scripture. Ok. That is what it isn’t. What is it? Is
there any principle here for us? I think yes. We need a day of rest. The Sabbath was a day
of rest. And we need to rest as well. We are always in a hurry. Have you noticed that?
We are the only nation in the world with a mountain called Rushmore. Right. And you know
our schedules are jam packed and we are doing things. Multitasking we call it. You are talking
to someone and you are texting over here and you are taking care of this. A lot of things.
Not doing any of these things really as well as we ought to. But there is a principle here
which is take time to recharge yourselves spiritually. Slow down. Shut it down. Be still
and know that He is God. Listen. Even Jesus took time off. Mark 6:30–32
says, “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all that they had done
and taught. And so many people were coming and going they didn’t even have a chance
to eat. And He said to them, ‘Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get
some rest.’ And they went away to a solitary place” “Oh Jesus it is so exciting. Everyone wants
to talk to us.” “Hey you know what? You guys need some time off.” “We haven’t
even eaten.” “Yeah you need to eat. In fact we need to get away from these crowds.
You need to just be with Me.” And we can be so busy. And listen. The easiest
place to do this is in ministry. We are doing things for God all the time. You know we are
accomplishing this for God and doing that for God. And sometimes you can forget about
God. Forget about just sitting at His feet and drawing in. I mean we are busy. Our bodies
are busy every single day. Did you know that in the next 24 hours your body is going to
work very hard? Your heart is going to beat 103,689 times. Your blood is going to travel
168,000 miles. You are going to breathe 23,000 times. And you are going to inhale 438 cubit
feet of air. You are going to eat three and a half pounds of food. And that is at Miguel’s
Jr. That sounds good. Doesn’t it. Or maybe that is just what I eat in one burrito. You
will drink 2.9 quarts of liquid. You will speak 4800 words. And that is just one phone
call for a girl. You are going to move 750 muscles. And you will exercise 7 million brain
cells. No wonder you feel tired. Yeah It is a good thing to say, “You know what?
On Sunday the first thing day of the week just like the early church we are going to
get together and we are going to worship the Lord and we are going to get into the Word
and we are going to fellowship one with another and we are going to take this time to be recharged
spiritually. That is a good thing. And that is the principle we can draw from the Sabbath
that is given to believers. But the ultimate fulfillment is resting in
the work that God wants to do for you. Jesus said, “Come here to Me all you who are growing
weary to the point of exhaustion.” Does that sound familiar? “And you have been
loaded with burdens and you are bending beneath their weight. I will cause you to cease from
your labor. I will take away your burdens and refresh you with rest. Rest in Me.” You know the great thing about being a Christian
is I don’t have to do a bunch of things to earn the approval of God. That has been
accomplished at the cross where Jesus met the righteous requirements. He met the demands
of the a holy Father. All other religions say, “Do this. Do that.” Christianity
says, “Done.” Tetevlestai is the word that Christ used from the cross. Tetevlestai
means it is finished. It is completed. It is made an end of. It was a common word back
in that culture. If you were building a chair and you were done you would say tetevlestai.
It is done. You finished your day at work. Tetevlestai. The food has come out of the
oven. It is ready to eat. Tetevlestai. It is finished. That is what it meant. But when Jesus used that phrase on Calvary
it took on a whole new meaning. It is done. It is completed. It is satisfied. You don’t
have to do these things to be loved by God. You should do these things because you know
you already are loved by God. And these things that you do are a response to His love for
you. We started by saying that. That God loves
you. Now I want to show my love. Not just in what I say or in what I sing. But in how
I live. If I love Him I will keep His commandments. Let me say finally that if you have joined
us here today and you don’t have this relationship with God. If you don’t have your sin forgiven
come to Jesus and believe in Him and be forgiven of all of the sins you have ever committed.
You know beyond this life on earth there are two destinations for a person. There is heaven
and hell. According to the Bible in hell there is no rest. Revelation 4:11 says, “The smoke
of their torment rises forever and ever and they will have not rest day or night.” No
rest in hell. But in contrast one characteristic of heaven is it is a place of complete rest.
Revelation 14:13 says, “I heard a voice from heaven saying, write this down. Blessed
are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes says the Lord they are blessed indeed.
They will rest from all their toils and trials and their good deeds follow.” Rest. But even before heaven we can rest in
the work that Christ has done. If you have come here today full of turmoil and anxiety.
You are under pressure. You are worried about a lot of things that are going on right now.
You need to come to Jesus. As He said, “Come here to Me all you who are weary to the point
of exhaustion and have been loaded with burdens and you are bending beneath their weight.
I will cause you to cease from your labors and take away your burdens and refresh you
with rest.” Come to Jesus and find His forgiveness and pardon. He will come and live inside of
you and you can start fulfilling the purpose for which God created you for. Let’s pray. Father now I pray for any that
have joined us that do not yet know You. Help them to believe in You now. Help them Lord
to come to Jesus and be forgiven of their sin.
