Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
I’ve read a lot about the topic of productivity...
I think sometimes I spend more time reading about productivity than I spend being productive!
It’s because, at my very core, I’m a procrastinator who likes putting things off as much as I like accomplishing things!
The frustration that is my to-do list...
Too many “priority tasks” not nearly enough clarity on what the real priorities are.
Well, I’m not going to solve that problem this morning, but thinking about our priorities is a great place to begin our look at the Ten Commandments, specifically the first commandment.
Turn to Deuteronomy 5:6-7
The First Commandment: Worship God Only
Verse 6
Verse 6 not only sets up the first command, but really all the commands.
It should be seen as a preface for all the commands because it sets the reason why God could require them to obey His commands; namely because He is their God and their redeemer.
“I am the LORD your God...”
I am YHWH...
I am YHWH your God...
The One worthy of your worship and obedience.
Why?
Because I am your God.
Because I am your redeemer.
“…who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
Here God reminds Israel that it was Him, Yahweh, that had led them out of bondage in Egypt.
God’s people were His redeemed people, a people brought out of slavery.
So, God both created His people by His mighty word and He has redeemed His people.
Thus, they are His.
It is here, as Christians, that we must be reminded of the Gospel.
We too were created by God and redeemed by God.
Through the finished work of Jesus on the cross, we were redeemed from the greater slavery that all of mankind is in bondage to, sin.
Thus, we belong to Him; we are His people.
We would be mistaken to miss another important fact here: law follows grace, not the other way around.
God saw Israel’s affliction and saved them, then gave them His law that would enable them to obey His covenant expectations.
Likewise, we obey God not to earn His favor or salvation, but because we have already received both.
It is unmerited grace that leads us to obedience.
Verse 7
“You shall have no other gods before me.”
After the vital preface for the Ten Commandments in verse 6, Moses reminds them God’s first command: to have no other gods before (or besides) Him.
The monotheism of Judaism was unique in ancient times.
Most all religions had multiple gods, or as we call it “polytheistic.”
But God had already told the people that there is no other gods:
So worship is reserved for God alone.
As we approach this commandment it is important that we keep the original audience in mind.
This command and the next one were major issues during much of Israel’s history.
We have a tendency today to label items as “worship” or “idols,” but miss what these were in the mind of the ancients.
For the ancients, items worshiped were not simply time-wasters or worldly interests that became too important.
They truly believed that that which they were worshiping was or represented a god who was going to bless them in some way because of their fidelity and obedience.
We will have much to say later about items today that compete for our hearts, but it’s important to recognize that the false worship God is prohibiting here is, indeed, worship and obedience to a false god.
“You shall have no other gods before me.”
While the term “have” is a good translation of the Hebrew word here, the sense is to “worship” or “obey.”
Thus, you are not to worship or obey another god.
When He says to have no other gods before me, it should be interpreted as over, against me.
All other ‘gods’ are in opposition to Yahweh.
In opposition because they threaten to compete for a person’s allegiance to the One True God.
Even a little false worship is enough to ruin worship entirely over time.
It’s important to see the cultural influence God was protecting Israel from here.
Like most of the world during that time, the people of Canaan (the land of promise that they were soon to take) were polytheistic.
So, God’s major concern is not simply that they might abandon Him, but also that they would add other gods to the worship of Him alone, diluting worship and slowly but surely destroying it.
This is something we too need to be aware of today.
Too many today are adding false theology to the church’s worship:
The theology of secularism;
The theology of permissiveness;
The theology of new age spirituality;
The theology of universalism;
So What?
You were created and redeemed by God, so worship and obey Him only.
Why is this so important to God?
Because it would be sinful for Him to share worship with anything else in all of Creation.
God cannot share worship with that which is false because He would be acknowledging that someone or something other than Him is worthy of worship and praise.
This would be sin and God cannot sin.
Because worshiping and obeying that which is false leads to a multitude of sins.
Our world today is a glaring illustration of this.
A growing number of people are rejecting God and His Word, and look at the mess that has followed:
People argue for killing babies from conception up to the point of birth (today called “reproductive justice” or “reproductive freedom”);
People believe that biology is “problematic” and therefore a boy can be a girl if he feels like it;
The most vile forms of sex and sexual expression have become so commonplace, that they are even being introduced into children’s television and movies;
And on I could go, but you get the point...
Philip Graham Ryken: “Respect for God always demands respect for his law.
And whenever people have a low regard for God’s law, as they do in our culture, it is ultimately because they have a low regard for God.”
Because godly worship and obedience leads to blessing.
We often focus on the negative (i.e. if we don’t worship and obey bad things will happen), but we forget to focus on the fact that godly worship and obedience leads to blessing from God.
That’s why I love that Psalm so much.
“Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”
Because we matter to Him.
Something to consider: If God makes this command, then we must be of great worth to Him.
He didn’t give this command to any other creatures, but man alone.
He knows our potential and desires that we live up to our potential.
So this is really a very freeing commandment because it gives us the opportunity to fulfill His will for us.
1 John 3:1 (ESV)
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
Warren Wiersbe: “The Lord wants us to obey Him, not as slaves cringing before a master, but as grateful children who love their Heavenly Father and appreciate all He is to us and has done for us.”
Why do we worship Jesus then?
The New Testament is full of examples of people worshiping Jesus.
Jesus never once stops them, but typically praises them and others who believe without seeing.
Three key passages that answer this question are:
Is worshiping and obeying God the priority of your life?
We live in a time when too many Christians have sold their ‘first love’ out.
To have ‘no other gods before me’ is not simply calling ourselves Christians or attending a church somewhere.
It takes more than attendance, membership or even baptism.
It’s all about making God the priority of our lives.
Not simply one of many priorities, but the priority.
Is God the priority of your life or simply one of many?
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