Undivided Allegiance & Undiminished Worship

In: 1. I am a routine person

a. 5am alarm, bathroom (dog stretches) lamp, outside, food, creamer, couch, devo

b. When the dogs are at Madison’s… I’m lost

c. When I get to the couch- lamp unplugged, missing pillow

d. I have CDO

e. Its my place- Couch war with Sherri, another spot is weird (pew)

2. God is jealous- means He doesn’t want anyone in His place

3. God gave us 10 Commandments to live by- Exodus 20

a. The first 4 deal with our relationship with God

1) No other Gods, image, name, sabbath

b. The last 6 deal with our relationship with man

1) Elders, kill, adultery, steal, lie, covet

c. Jesus sums them up by Love God (1-4) Love People (5-10)

d. These 10 words help us understand our relationship with Him & others

4. Our tendency is to think that God was all LAW in the OT and all GRACE in the NT

a. He’s always perfect balance- justice/compassion, truth (law) / grace

1) We make our relationship with God about rules, but it’s about relationship

2) Rules are easier, relationship takes time, effort, give and take

3) It’s a balancing act on our part as well

b. Rules don’t prevent relationship, they enable relationship

1) Be faithful, trustworthy

2) Make time for the relationship

3) Keep confidence

4) Be honest

5) Believe the best about them

7) Don’t compare them to others

c. Christianity is about relationship with God and others

1) And because that’s true, Christianity is also unapologetically about rules, because rules show us how to live in those relationships

2) Jesus did not pit rules against relationship. Instead, He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”

a) If you love me, you won’t lie to me, have an affair on me

3) If you aren’t a Christian, rules will probably feel like legalism

a) Legalism make the rules more important than the relationship

5. The Ten words follow a pattern- rules with God first, rules with man second

6. The Ten Words show us how to live as citizens of heaven while we are still on this earth

7. Rules enable relationships

a) The Ten Words position us to live at peace with God and others

8. Ten words to live by- Jen Wilkins

9. First 2 commands- Honoring God with our hearts and devotion

I. The First Word- UNDIVIDED ALLEGIANCE

* Exodus 20:1-3 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.”

A. One God over all rivals

1. The plagues of Egypt were destroying the god’s of Egypt

a. Numbers 33:4 The Lord had also executed judgment on their gods (Picture)

1) Khnum, the guardian of the Nile, Hapi, the spirit of the Nile- water to blood

2) Heqt, the frog-goddess of fertility- the plague of frogs

3) Geb- god over the earth/dust- the plague of gnats

4) Uatchit, fly god of Egypt- plague of flies

5) Hathor, a cow-like mother goddess- the plague on livestock

6) Imhotep, the god of medicine, Isis, god of healing- the plague of boils

7) Nut, the sky goddess- the plague of hail

8) Seth, the protector of crops- the plague of locusts

9) Ra, the sun god- the plague of darkness

10) Osiris, the giver of life, and Pharaoh, a god himself- the plague against the firstborn

2. God is not only saying that he is superior to other gods or stronger than other gods. He is saying that they do not exist

a. Why should Israel worship no other gods? because there are no other gods

B. Both And

1. From the beginning Israel was both and

a. Genesis 35:2 Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you” Rachel stole her father Laban’s household idols

b. The “both-and” mentality: yes, we will serve Yahweh, but also, just in case, we will offer devotion to these other gods, as well

2. Double-mindedness is when we say we worship God, but then add an idol

a. Elijah told Israel at Mount Carmel- How long will you hesitate between two opinions? 1 Kings 18:21

1) MSG- How long will you sit on the fence?

3. We are created for single-minded allegiance. We are designed for it

a. Just as in marriage we commit to one spouse for a lifetime and chasing anyone else is adultery, we committed ourselves to God and anything else in our heart is spiritual adultery

b. Madi & TJ Renyer- I promise to keep you 2nd in my life (after God)

4. God wants all of us

a. 2 Chronicles 16:9 The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him

b. Mark 12:30 Love the Lord your God will ALL of your heart, mind, soul, strength

1) Heart- passions

2) Mind- thoughts

3) Soul- feelings, your will, decisions

4) Strength- actions

c. John 3:30 He must increase and I must decrease- Discipleship

1) God’s plan is not to improve me, but to remove me

C. We must bury our both-ands

1. Genesis 35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem

a. To rid ourselves of our idols, we must put them to death, bury them

b. Colossians 3:8-9 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other

c. Mark 7:21-22 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly

d. These behaviors reveal there are idols hiding in our hearts

1) We get angry because of the idol of self. We want things our way

2) We tear others down because of insecurity and we believe what others or we ourselves say about us than what God says about us

3) We are greedy because we place our security and trust in our resources more than God

2. There’s only room in our hearts for one God

a. Luke 6:13 No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other

b. Mark 3:25 A house divided against itself cannot stand

3. Honoring God with our hearts

* He wants our Undivided Allegiance

II. The Second Word- UNDIMINISHED WORSHIP

* 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

A. Image Making

1. Idolatry is a misplace expectation

a. Money is an idol if we believe it will give us security

b. Position is an idol if we believe it will give us significance

c. Relationships are an idol if we believe they will fulfill us

2. Idol worship is progressive

a. Do not make, do not bow down, do not serve

3. Idol worship is contagious

a. Causing trouble for generation after generation

b. What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace- John Wesley

c. When we break the second word, we reveal that we have also broken the first

d. Every transgression of one of the Ten Words begins by transgressing the first, to have no other gods before him

4. Have you ever noticed that our God typically likes the things we like? our sports teams, hobbies, entertainment

a. Saul’s example

1) 1 Samuel 14:35 Then Saul built an altar to the LORD

2) 1 Samuel 15:12 Saul went to Carmel and set up a monument to himself

3) When you stop building altars to God, you start building monuments to yourself. And that’s the beginning of the end spiritually. You’re no longer playing the man. You’re playing God.

b. Could our idol today be God himself - not the real Living God of course, but the image we have of him based on our misplaced expectations in his name

c. The first word prohibits worship of anything other than God, the second word prohibits worship of any version of God less than God

5. The word “image” is related to the word “imagination.”

a. Idolatry starts in the mind

1) JI Packer- Metal images are the consequence of mental images

b. When we make an idol to represent God, we bring God down to our level

c. That was the temptation to Adam & Eve- “You will be like God”

d. God created man in his image. When we make an idol, we attempt to create God in our image or according to our own ideas

6. Idolatry is wrong, because it gives a distorted image of God

a. Many churches have images that represent God

1) We see it all over Catholic & Orthodox churches- Eikon (Camera)

2) Rocks, meteorites, Mary, Saints that point to Christ

3) We start worshipping the image- Bronze Serpent, Gideon’s ephod, ourselves

B. Is there a correct image of God?

1. The Bible

a. God has revealed himself through the Scriptures

b. We know who God is by learning the Bible, and by measuring all teaching against his word

c. We must worship God as he has revealed himself to us in his Word, and not according to our own imagination

2. Jesus

a. John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten has explained Him to us

1) He came to show us what God is like- Word becomes flesh

b. Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God

3. We are

a. God and God alone is permitted to make an image of himself

b. Genesis 1:26 Let us make man in our own image

c. If Jesus is the image of the invisible God, we are the image of the invisible Jesus (because He lives in us and should be growing through us)

4. Honoring God with our devotion

* God wants our Undiminished Worship

Cn: 1. Ronald Reagan- square toe or rounded toe shoes?

2. 1 Kings 18:21 How long will you hesitate between two opinions

3. The first commandment forbids worshiping a false god, the second commandment forbids worshiping

the true God in a false manner

4. The first commandment has to do with WHOM we worship, the second commandment has to do with HOW we worship

5. The first commandment already prohibited worshiping the false gods and idols of other nations, the second commandment prohibits the use of idols in worshiping the one true God

6. Undivided Allegiance- there can only be one god in our life

a. Where do we spend our time and money?

7. Undiminished Worship- do our lives present a correct picture of who God is?

a. What are our kids, neighbors, coworkers learning about God for our lives?

Al: 1. Salvation

2. Undivided Allegiance- Honor God will all our heart

3. Undiminished Worship- Honor God with all our devotion